Demonspawns: Never A Dull Moment
by ShadowDrake
Summary: A ripple in the barriers between worlds tosses Toad & Wolfsbane into an alternate reality. Allowing the XMen and Brotherhood to get a glimpse at the possible futures of a few of their own. Will anything be the same ever again? Updated Ch. 3!
1. Chapter 1 A Little Down Time

TITLE: Demonspawns: Never a Dull Moment  
AUTHOR: RahneWolfe and ShadowDrake  
EMAIL: RahneWolfe@gmx.net - or - Shadowlander1@gmx.net  
WEBSITE: http://shadowlander.topcities.com/  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated with X-Men: Evolution; they are owned by others and are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.  
RATING: R mainly for violence and language.  
PAIRING: au- Toad/Wolfsbane  
SUMMARY/NOTES: A ripple in the barriers between worlds tosses two mutants into an alternate reality. Allowing the X-Men and Brotherhood to get a glimpse at the possible futures of a few of their own. Will anything be the same ever again? Also please note that the counterparts for Toad and Wolfsbane are adults in part one, and their powers have evolved a bit, so don't panic if they seem different. They are from another world and have gone through different things that have affected them and the development of their unique abilities. Also please note that I did not misspell the word 'yoghurt' - the language on my computer is set for U.K. English and thus it is spelled properly for all you Americans out there reading this.  
ARCHIVE: The website above and any other site that is strange or daring enough to want a copy.  
  
The Polish being used: maly-jedno {little one}, babka {grandmother}, tak {yes}  
  
The Scottish slang being used: {which I got off the net if its wrong or out of date I apologize}  
  
Sassenach - literally "foreigner" - usually reserved for offensively referring to an Englishman; although, when Rahne uses it she's not talking about an Englishman - you have to read to see who she says it about.  
  
Radge - wild, crazy fool  
  
Bampot - crazy or foolish person  
  
  
  
DEMONSPAWNS: NEVER A DULL MOMENT  
  
Elsewhere: a parallel Earth, Lower Eastside of Manhattan, New York City -  
  
"Michal!" the old woman barely five-foot tall said as she hugged the young man standing before her, "maly-jedno!" She greeted brightly, as her hug was returned, her grandson gently picking her up off the ground a happy smile on his own face. It had been nearly a year since she was last able to see him, he had allowed his hair to grow out it now dipped below his shoulders and was pulled back from his face and held in position by a leather strap. He wore a long black duster that was a bit beat up, a new pair of jeans, a mock-turtle neck dark grey shirt, and a pair of well loved leather high-top tennis shoes. As her eyes, returned to his face, she noted the twinkle in his warm brown eyes, and the start of a neatly trimmed beard no more then a week or two old, as well as the one inch long battle-axe earring hanging from his left earlobe. In all he reminded her of a young rogue who seemed to be out of place on the streets of Manhattan, he would look more at home running loose in a medieval battlefield she decided with a fond grin.   
  
Chuckling softly at his beloved grandmother's squeal of laughter at his action, "babka, I want you to meet my friend Rahne Sinclair," he said after putting her on the ground once more and turning slightly so she could see his friend. The older woman found herself looking at a slim young woman with short close-cut red hair and mischievous blue-green eyes, wearing black commando-type pants rolled up neatly at the bottom hiding dark well-worn boots, and a waist length leather jacket over a maroon cloth pullover.   
  
"Michal... behave," she admonished swatting at the young man's stomach, "you did not tell me you were bringing by a friend... and such a nice looking one at that. Is that something you want to tell me my maly-jedno?" She asked, giving him the all-powerful look of the grandmother that all grandchildren around the world had learned long ago to fear and avoid at all costs.  
  
"Aye Michal... is there somethin' ya want ta tell her?" Rahne countered, a devilish grin tugging at the corners of her mouth at his sudden look of panic to be on the receiving end of the much-feared 'look of the grandmother'. Slinging her arm around his shoulders, she gave his grandmother a wink before blowing in his ear.  
  
"Oh sure... pick on the poor defenceless Toad," Todd Michal Tolensky, known to most of the world as the mutant warrior Toad, although very few people - other then the media and his enemies - ever called him that, and still fewer called him Todd, grumbled playfully, "I see how it is." Mostly he was just Tolen, a shorten version of his last name to his closest associates and Michal to his grandmother who never liked the name Toad in the first place.  
  
"Ah come on lad... ya know I wouldna torment ya so if I didna love ya," Rahne replied with a lopsided smile, "besides... ya embarrassed me in front of my family... I'm only returning the favour... and ya arena defenceless even in ya sleep."  
  
"Michal," the old woman said sternly, "you were not raised to be embarrassing young women... just what other bad habits have you been picking up while roaming the planet saving people?" She went on slipping into a mix of English and Polish as she chastised her favourite grandson, a stern finger being wagged at him.  
  
"Tak babka," he said, managing to look shamed faced before leaning over to kiss the shorter woman on the top of the head. "Rahne this is my grandmother - or babka in Polish - Aneila Pulaski she raised me after my mom died and my dad...last I heard he was doing hard time in New Jersey somewhere I think - or was it Nevada?" He said, a shadow crossing his eyes at the mention of his much-despised father - or the 'sperm donor' as he was fond of referring to the man as. After a moment he shook his head, mostly to clear it of thoughts of the bastard he was pretty sure drugged and raped his mother to get her to marry the sperm donor in the first place. Or at least, he liked to tell himself, not seeing the 'good man' his biological father was once rumoured to be, to him the man was just an abusive son-of-a-bitch that liked to use his wife and kid as punching bags.   
  
"Lad?" Rahne's questioning voice brought him out of his dark thoughts, "ya okay?"   
  
"Yeah," he answered noting he was the sudden centre of attention, his grandmother giving him that look of hers again telling him she had a pretty good idea about what he was thinking about. "Really I'm fine," he added as she arched a grey eyebrow at him, like she did when he was younger and in big trouble, "honest... no problems here." He added with a smile trying to appear self-assured, "Besides... we're going to be late for lunch... I want to show Rahne around the old neighbourhood before we got to head back to the wonderful world of superheroes and spandex." He whispered in a conspiring tone and a roll of his eyes, "Rahne and I are planning a protest of the new uniforms they want us to wear... my running shorts have more material then the 'battling bathing suits' they want her and Jean to wear. We got a bet going if the designer is trying to cause the bad guys to stop in their tracks to drool at them so the rest of us can pick them off. Or if the guy is just a closet hormone-driven comic book artist."   
  
"Michal... you are so bad," his grandmother admonished him with a chuckle. She sometimes wondered about his friends and team-mates that made up the odd band of mutants who called themselves the 'Demonspawns', having never met them in person although she had carefully followed his adventures in the news. While it was such an odd name for heroes, her grandson did explain the logic behind it, telling her that he and his friends had been called monsters and demons so many times they decided to take the name and make it their own. It was terrifying, some of the things he and his friends did to protect people they didn't even know. Some of whom even hating her grandson for the simple fact he had been born with an extraordinary ability that set him apart from others. However, she was proud of him, after his troubled teenage years where he seemed determined to become a criminal himself, he had begun to build a new life and found new reason to continue to fight for a better world. And considering that the young shorthaired redhead standing before her was the first team-mate he had ever bothered to introduce to her, Aneila Pulaski had a suspicion that she was a major influence on his change for the better.   
  
"What? Babka... you have to see these things," he defended, "they are just screaming nosebleed material and getting arrested for indecent exposure."   
  
"And you wear this...er... battling bathing suit?" Aneila asked the redhead.  
  
"Oh na ma'am... I plan fer the bloody thing ta have an unfortunate accident in the danger room," Rahne replied, "I kenna wear if it I destroy it first... nah manmade material ken hold up with shape shifting fer too long." She added with a sly wink, liking Tolen's grandmother, the older woman seemed to be just the person to raise the somewhat wayward Toad without allowing him to run totally amok.  
  
"And if that doesn't work," Tolen added, linking his arm through his grandmother's, the three heading in the direction of the restaurant for lunch as a leisurely pace. "I own a battle-axe," he said patting the side of his black duster with his free hand, feeling the familiar weight of his favourite weapon hidden in its folds, "I can make sure it stays dead."   
  
"Dead?" his grandmother questioned with a laugh, "so the 'battling bathing suits' are alive now?"  
  
"We live in the same house as three magic users, one of which is a full-fledged demon sorceress... we don't even trust the yoghurt not to attack. Which it has by the way... a slight misspoken spell and we spent a weekend battling a mutant cup of blueberry yoghurt." He went on in a serious tone, shuddering a bit for effect at the memory of the infamous weekend from hell.  
  
Aneila looked at her grandson out of the corner of her eye for a long moment, "You should not tease an old woman like that," she replied dryly, having decided he was toying with her.  
  
"Who's teasing?" he replied, "look... Rahney was there... you could ask her. Yoghurt is officially banned from our refrigerator and Magik isn't allowed to cast spells using books that even remotely have spells that sound like recipes."  
  
Hours later - near dusk   
  
"That was fun," Tolen said as he and Rahne walked toward the subway to catch the train back uptown to the hotel they were staying at while in town. While a part of him wanted to take his grandmother up on her invitation to stay with her for the night, he knew he couldn't, it would have been unfair to her if the two had gotten a page and had to leave at three in the morning. "Babka is looking good... I think she likes you," he said, giving his team-mate his patented mischievous grin he learned from Kurt Wagner one night over bottles of German beer last October.  
  
"Aye... and subtle ta," Rahne remarked dryly, "I think she has us just about married off. If I didna know any better I'd swear she's been conspiring with me own mum on that front."  
  
"You noticed it too, huh," Tolen replied with a laugh, "I thought it was just me."  
  
Chuckling herself the two walked for a time in silence, "So... why does she call ya Michal?"   
  
"Oh that," he said, his brow furrowing a bit in thought, "she doesn't like my first name...I got stuck with the sperm donor's name... and babka has never forgiven him for what he did to my mom and me."  
  
"Ya a junior?"  
  
"Bite your tongue Rahne Sinclair," Tolen retorted, in mock anger shuddering a bit at the mere thought, "I only got stuck with the first and the last name ... my middle name was picked out by babka. Besides even if I did get stuck with that bastard's middle name I would have had it legally changed by now... no way in hell will I be forced to live with the name Todd Mortimer Tolensky... that is just wrong."  
  
Rahne gave a slight shudder herself in sympathy before her head snapped up with a slight growl, catching a faint scent in the air. "Bugger," she cursed mildly, "how the devil did he get out?"  
  
"Problems?" Tolen asked, instantly alert having learned years ago when Rahne growled at anything it usually meant trouble in one form or another.  
  
"I'm picking up Jack," she said, clutching her teeth to keep from sneering further at the name. "He's been through here about four hours ago... maybe a block or two over," she reported, taking a few deep sniffs to double check herself, firmly pushing aside some of the more foul smells lurking heavily in the air around the neighbourhood.   
  
"Jack?" he questioned, knowing of only one Jack that would ever make Rahne's eyes flash with that much annoyance, "ah man... I though we put him under the freakin' cell in Davey's mind last time." He groaned, one hand pushing aside his duster to get to the mobile phone clipped to the waistband of his jeans. "You know if he's running amok again.. Jeannie is going to be madder then that time Cyclops was caught sneaking peeks at her in the shower."  
  
"Don remind me... I'm the one that had ta hear his screams as she dropped kicked him inta the bay behind the mansion," Rahne commented with a slight grin, "the man made enough noise ta wake the dead in Canada before hitting the water."  
  
Chuckling at the story, Tolen turned on the mobile and hit the speed dial button, "you don't know how much I want a visual on that one," he said, "always knew Scotty was a prick and an idiot." Just because he was technically no longer an enemy of the X-Men, didn't mean he liked any of them. Sure he was on good terms with most of them and he wasn't given too much grief when he showed his face in the exulted halls of Xavier's. Still there were a few X-Men who refused to forgive and forget, always bringing up Tolen's past mistakes and deeds to throw in his face reminding him that he was once the enemy. 'Unbelievable...Magneto gets a fair shake and the right to prove he has turned over a new leaf, and I nearly get stripped searched when I stay for dinner.' He thought darkly. Placing the mobile to his ear he waited for the other end to pick up, "Yeah, this is Tolen," he said in greeting, "Rahney and me are in Manhattan... any reason she's smelling traces of Legion in the area?" He asked getting right to the point, then cursed violently in Polish a moment later as he got the reply.   
  
"Yeah... yeah we're on the lower eastside," he added, eyes darting over to Rahne knowing with her enhanced hearing she was also able to hear the conversation judging from the string of Gaelic curses and low growls she had unleashed as well. "Fuck me... are there any casualties on Muir? Damnit Pryde... why the hell didn't you guys page us! The 'Spawns aren't the fucking enemy... last I checked the big bad X-Men were our sister team... we're suppose to be able to exchange information freely... you know so we can save more lives!" He growled, after a moment not liking what he was hearing one bit. "Yeah, yeah, you pass it on that I'm not happy... and Katherine... Moira dies because you guys let Jack escape... I will be helping Rahne tear your head off." He vowed before ending the call. Taking a few deep breaths, "Can you belief them? They thought they had the situation under control... the guy is a fucking homicidal maniac who makes Manson seem sane... and they have it under control." He said conversationally, hitting a new number on the speed dial. "Are we the only team that isn't afraid to call for extra manpower... or in the very least borrow a really big tank to help take down the bad guy. It's not that damn hard yelling for help... you just pick up the damn phone and say 'I need a favour, can I borrow the howitzer'." He continued to grumble putting the mobile back to his ear waiting for the pick up.  
  
With an absent snort, Rahne led the way, Tolen still with the mobile to his ear talking to their other team-mates trying to get a game plan and as much information together as possible. Where the mutant called Legion was considered, seconds counted and indecision could get a lot of people killed really fast. "Just waiting for dark to take the search to the rooftops," Tolen was saying, "the little bastard has a four hour head start on us." While his identity, and those of his team-mates, were all publicly known thanks to one Trish Tilby - reporter and first-class snake in the grass - the team did prefer to keep as low a profile as possible. Granted it didn't always work, especially when they were forced to wear the spandex uniforms the US Government insisted would aid in protecting them from both the elements and lethal weapons, most people tended to leave them alone for the most part. However, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in spandex, or street clothes, in broad daylight tended to call attention to one's self, and not all of New York's Finest thought he had the right to walk around with a double-bladed battle axe under his duster, even if he did only use it on beings that really needed to have their heads cracked.   
  
Night Fall - Lower Manhattan  
  
"Now why the devil would Legion come all the way ta a warehouse in New York... knowing it's our bloody backyard?" Rahne asked, as the two crouched on the roof of a neighbouring warehouse. Although, she appeared to be human, she had access to the enhanced senses of her transitional form, having learned a few years ago how to tap into the power of her wolf forms without actually having to shift. It made it easy for her to track people in large crowds without causing a panic in case someone happened to notice there was a large werewolf walking down the street. However, if one looked carefully at the supposed human sitting on top of a warehouse, they would have sensed an inhuman presence within the redhead, a dark predator lurking just below the surface of her every changing eyes. Turning her head to the left she smiled as a dark shadow seemed to open up next to them and two figures appeared. The first, a tall black man with his face half-shadowed under the hood of a dark cloak, his body completely hidden in its massive folds while he seemed to emit a haunting dark energy. In front of him, emerging out from inside his cloak, a smaller white woman who seemed to glow faintly with a radiant light, with white-blonde hair and piecing blue eyes, a white body suit covering her athletic form and a halo circling her left eye. "Ty... Tandy," the shape shifter said in greeting nodding to the new comers.  
  
"Heard we have a problem," the big man known as Cloak said, watching the two with a dark intense gaze, as if he was looking into their souls.   
  
"Yeah... ol' Jack slipped his damn leash and left Scotland... naturally the X-Men thought we didn't deserve a simple phone call to let us know he was out," Tolen replied, with a slight upward motion of his head.  
  
"I've never met Jack.. what's he like?" the blonde asked, unconsciously stepping closer to her team-mate and lover, allowing Cloak to soak up a bit of the light energy he fed off of, calming him while they planned their next move.   
  
"He's a bully and a prick," Rahne replied with a slight growl, watching the strange play of Dagger's light energy interacting with Cloak's dark energy. It was a rather fascinating thing to watch, the two were true soul mates in her opinion; they belonged together, each adding to the other making a complete being. The Wolf seriously doubted they were aware of all the little things they did for one another, Tandy - or Dagger, as she was called - always keeping Cloak's darkness from consuming him. While Cloak made sure Dagger's light - the excess life-force energy she produced - didn't rage out of control within her. One without the other would literally be consumed with either darkness or light unable to self-regulate and obtain a balance within themselves, well she thought one could, if they totally absorbed the other's powers. But Cloak without his Dagger and vice versa was just wrong; it would be like one or the other cutting off his or her own arms.   
  
"Legion himself is nah so bad... he's a verra powerful little kid trapped in a man's body. When he was young he went through a traumatic experience that shattered his psyche creating multiple personalities... each persona controls a different power. The personality we're after is Jack Wayne he has command of the psycho-kinesis... nah as powerful as Jean, but he ken do enough damage. Unfortunately, he has the other personalities bulled into submission, so he has access ta most of Legion's abilities. Except fer the telepathy... Jamul has control of that, and as an outside persona trapped within David, he kenna be bullied and hates Jack with a passion."   
  
"Like Rahne said... Jack is a bully, when comforted with a much stronger adversary he'll cut and run... hopefully if we hit him fast and hard he'll pull back and one of the other personas can take control," Tolen put in, "I've seen this guy in action he's a real piece of work, don't underestimate him or just how much he can influence the others. The other persona to watch out for is Cyndi she's the pyro-kinetic and Jack's sidekick," he continued one hand subconsciously rubbing the burn scar on his left leg, starting just above his knee and running a good five inches up his thigh hidden under his jeans, in memory of his encounter with the fire-starter several years ago. He had gotten the burn while taking out Legion with a high jump, coming down on top of the maniac as gently as possible only wanting to knock the mutant out and avoid breaking the guy's neck or back. While he took out his target, he also got a third degree burn on his left leg above the heavy endurance boot and knee armour he had been wearing at the time for all his trouble. Which resulted in his now infamous hatred of spandex and so-called 'super resistant' material that was supposed to avoid such damage.  
  
"The ideal personality ta get is Jamul... or even David, but any of the others will do," Rahne put in, "once they are in control they are able ta stand up ta that bloody wanker Jack... and fer the most part are pretty peaceful."  
  
"That still doesn't explain why he's here," Cloak noted, casting his dark penetrating gaze toward the other warehouse, allowing his unique ability to pinpoint every 'life force' within the building. "Strange... he's alone," he commented, knowing that Rahne with her own enhanced senses could see something very similar to what he was looking at; although she saw the solo life force as a heat pattern.  
  
"Na fer long," Rahne grunted pointing to a car turning into the complex from further up the road, "now I wonder who could be doing business with ol' Jack?" She asked not really expecting an answer, her lupine eyes seeing in far greater detail then her fellow team members, allowing her to read the license plate, "Hmmmm, out of state tags, the plot just bloody thickens on its own."   
  
Smirking a bit, Tolen reached into his duster and pulled out his battle-axe; a gift from an Asgardian dwarf that had rapidly became his primary weapon in a fight. Absently doing a one-handed twirl of the axe to loosen his arm a bit, he watched the car approach catching a movement out of the corner of his eye as Dagger stepped back into Cloak's protective embrace to conceal her glow. "Oh yeah, we are going to have to crash this party," he said, a wicked grin on his face as they watched the car come to a stop in front of the neighbouring warehouse containing the elusive Legion, "because anyone willingly meeting with the king of all-pricks needs to have their teeth kicked down their throats at least once."   
  
"I thought Cyclops was the king of all pricks?" Rahne commented, shifting to her transitional form, as she shrugged off her leather jacket, the fabric of her maroon shirt becoming tight against her muscular furred frame. Shifting a bit, to settle into a better crouch mostly to accommodate the tail she had in her 'wolf forms', she felt the fabric of her black pants - with its specially modified area just under the waistband - move with her, allowing the freedom of movement she had grown to prefer over the tightness of spandex and still be able to grow a tail without destroying the garment. Absently the bushy appendage swayed back and forth as if eager to begin the hunt, its path every now and then hitting the side of Tolen's jean clad knee next to her.  
  
"Nah... ol' One-Eye is the Prince of Anal-retentiveness," Tolen corrected. Glancing down as something brushed against his leg, he arched an eyebrow firmly pressing his lips together to keep from laughing as his shoulders shook slightly. It had taken a while to get used to living with Rahne's somewhat erratic tail that had a mind very much its own at times. It was always amusing watching people who weren't used to a werewolf deal with an expressive appendage that tended to mirror its owner's moods and temperament.   
  
Leaning over the side of the building, Cloak watched the car's occupants enter the warehouse, one remaining outside as guard. Sharing a look with the wolf, he turned back to Tolen, "they are either amateurs or just brain-dead... fools playing at being gangsters," he noted darkly, as Dagger stepped back out of his cloak.  
  
"Aye... nah wonder they're from out of town... ol' Kingpin would die from laughter watching these gits... seems Jack found himself some playmates," Rahne added with a jerk of her thumb, "I know hooligans in Kinross that are more aware of their surroundings then these morons are." With a nod of her head, she handed her jacket to Dagger who shrugged it on, mainly to make sure it didn't get lost during the battle. The wolf always hated having to track down a little thief, which had stolen her prized leather, to beat the stuffing out of them for taking something that wasn't theirs to begin with.  
  
"Yeah... most serious thugs in New York do have the sense to look up at the neighbouring rooftops... never know when your friendly neighbourhood Demonspawn is going to be up there making rude comments about your fashion sense," Tolen remarked dryly, taking his own look over the side. "Take the doofus by the car... this guy has been watching way too many mob movies... he even has the cheesy hat. We've got to make these idiots hurt... a lot... they are bringing down the image of the New York Hood... it's a matter of honour now."   
  
"Spoken like a true hooligan," Rahne added, nudging him playfully, "I recommend we move this over ta the other rooftop... Dagger... ya and ya man want ta take the lad by the car?"  
  
"Not a problem, you and the Prince of all Toads there... have fun crashing the skylight... try to leave a few for us," the blonde replied as Cloak embraced her once more, the two disappearing into a dark shadow.  
  
"King... Tandy... our dear Tolen is the King of the Toads," Cloak said as they vanished, a rare mischievous light dancing in his usually dark brooding gaze.  
  
"I'm never going to live that down am I?" Tolen asked after the two disappeared, "one little allergic reaction and I get branded for life as the 'Terrible Toad King'." He grumbled playfully, sharing a nod with Rahne before shifting his weight and rocketing forward in a sudden burst of speed to leap the span between the rooftops in a single bound.  
  
Chuckling softly, Rahne backed up a few steps and took a running leap toward the other rooftop, doing a flip in midair to land in a crouch beside her smirking team-mate. "But lad... ya were so cute in nothing but the kilt and crown," she said with a wicked grin, patting his cheek in passing. Moving over to the warehouse skylight, she crouched down in front of it to peer inside, still with that wicked grin on her face as Tolen joined her. "Well hello... what do we have here?" she asked in a low tone cocking her head to the side, "oh bugger" she said sharing a look with Tolen.  
  
"Magic-user!" the two said as one, noting the set-up and the little guy standing in front of some kind of makeshift altar.   
  
"Lovely, Jack's made friends with a Merlin wannabe," Tolen grumbled to himself, "shall we crash my dear... I'm in the mood to break something how about you?" He asked standing and holding his hand out for her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as Rahne took it and he pulled her into a standing position. "I'll be introducing myself to Merlin... you go say 'hi' to Jack."   
  
Holding hands, the two crouched a bit leaping into the air in a well practiced manoeuvre twisting in midair and coming down once more over the skylight, creating a rain shower of glass and steel. Letting go, Tolen grabbed his battle-axe with two hands tucking his legs up under the handle of his weapon and doing a triple flip before stretching out and landing in a crouch. His battle-axe held out in front of him slicing through the altar and scaring the hell out of the little man who nearly wet himself as the double-bladed weapon came within a hair of his face. "Hi... I'm with the Greater Manhattan Anti-Merlin Deformation League... you don't look a thing like Merlin and I've been sent to ask you to cease and desist doing impersonations of the arch-mage... or risk being turned into a newt." He said, grinning wickedly at the little man.  
  
Rahne didn't try any fancy flips, just landed in a crouch and growled menacingly at her target, "Jack... I'm almost positive I promised ta break every bone in ya body if ya ever got out again," She said, standing and allowing her transitional form to shift becoming nearly nine foot tall as she stared with glowing yellow eyes at the psycho-kinetic currently sneering at her. "Aye... I'm sure I did," she went on her eyes hard and glowing with rage, "now be a good lad and hold still fer ya beating."  
  
Jack Wayne sneered at the werewolf coming toward him, heart pounding and mind racing as he struggled to keep himself calm to use his mutant powers to make his escape. He had been told that the damn 'Demonspawns' were all in Washington, DC at their headquarters on Embassy Row, attending some sort of training program. Apparently his informant had been wrong or deliberately misinformed him, no bother, he wasn't going to go back quietly. He was out and would stay out, becoming the only personality in David Heller's mind once and for all.   
  
"GET THEM!" the little guy, who had been staring in terror at Tolen, yelled finally finding his voice.  
  
Tolen rolled his eyes and shook his head, wondering just where this moron was dug up from, before he launched himself back into the air easily avoiding the machine gun fire from Merlin's hired thugs. Twisting in the air, he used a steel pillar to land on then take off again toward the nearest gunner, grinning widely as his fist connected with the thug's jaw sending the guy flying into a stack of cardboard boxes. Twirling his battle-axe, he used the flat side of the double-blade to deflect a round of bullets, taking perverse pleasure in the sound of the bullet's ricocheting off of the nearly unbreakable metal. "Man... I 'LOVE' Asgardian dwarves... really I do... not only are they shorter then me and throw great parties... but they are the ABSOLUTE best forgers anywhere, anytime," he commented, taking off in a dead ran at his next target, accelerating to a near blinding speed as he put his fist firmly in the man's gut. It was rare he used his mutant ability to run at a foe, preferring to use his super strength and agility that allowed him to make giant leaps and do complex acrobatic moves, strictly for jumping like his Toad namesake. However, as he had gotten older and more serious about the use and development of his unique abilities he learned he could run at high speeds as well, something he never imagined was possible. Of course, back in his young and stupid teen years, he believed just because he was a mutant he was also some type of god among mere humans, and really didn't have to work at anything.  
  
With instinct developed and horned over years of constant battle and training, Tolen spun around suddenly bringing his axe down in an arch and slicing through the large metal beam that Jack had tossed at him. Following the path of the axe, he ducked low letting the two severed pieces fly over and past him. "Oh yeah... you are going back with at least a broken arm," he growled, taking a quick look over his shoulder to see where the beam parts went before turning blazing eyes toward the psycho-kinetic he was rapidly developing a deeper hatred for.  
  
Across the open warehouse floor, Rahne grunted as she made contact with a brick wall having just been tossed into it by the sneering Jack. 'That's right boyo... keep ya attention on me,' she thought to herself, pushing aside the pain that shot through her body upon impact. 'Damn he's been practicing,' she grunted to herself, keeping a firm reign on her temper knowing she had to be careful about taking Jack down since he did happen to inhabit the same body as several other personalities that didn't warrant getting the hell beat out of them.   
  
Cloak and Dagger made their entrance quietly taken two more of the gunmen down, the duo working fast and efficiently, as was their usual method of operation. When the job had to be done fast and without raising an alarm, the pair were usually sent in first with, oddly enough, Rahne and Tolen acting as support and/or the diversion for the operation. The four tended to work the best as a small assault squad, either as a quick and silent strike team or as a sabotage unit, having gained a reputation for causing massive amounts of property damage that had most of the more destructive X-Men envious. The four also shared a history of living on the streets at one time, walking in places most of the more 'refined' heroes never walked, it gave them a common bond and an intense understanding of those they fought to protect.  
  
Tolen smirked, twirling his battle-axe in one hand as he caught Cloak engulfing the last hired thug within his dark embrace. Before releasing the poor man, who immediately fell to the ground and curled into a little ball. "Hey Jack... seems all your new playmates just went down for the count," he taunted, grinning wickedly at his target. "Why don't you surrender and I'll think about being nice and not break too many bones?"  
  
"NOT QUITE... YOU MUTIE FILTH!" The little man yelled, finally finding his voice, causing everyone - including Jack Wayne - to look at him in disbelief.  
  
"Mutie filth?" Tolen and Rahne chorused together, as Dagger raised both eyebrows at the little man and Cloak uttered a low human growl.  
  
"No one... says 'mutie' anymore," Tolen said, making a cross face, not sure if he should be offended or just mad. "Where the hell HAVE you been man??? That phrase went out like in the 80s."  
  
The little man sneered at the group as he began to chant, sure that between him and his new partner, they could take the so-called superheroes. "Bugger," Rahne growled, her head snapping back around to look at the little man, "he's casting!" Before she could react, she felt herself being picked up and tossed across the room once again, by the laughing Jack Wayne.  
  
Cursing softly Tolen released a quick build up of kinetic energy he had been absorbing from bounding around the room, in a powerful rocket leap launching himself in the opposite direction from both the Merlin wannabe and Jack. 'Okay think fast Toad-boy,' he ordered himself, manoeuvring his body so he landed high on a steel pillar, automatically burying one hand into the metal surface up to the first double-joints of his fingers. Effectively anchoring himself to his temporary perch, he studied the scene below, Cloak had disappeared just as Tolen had made his rocket leap, the dark-skinned man reappearing behind Dagger and embracing her in his dark hold. Rahne was able to manoeuvre herself so her shoulder would take the brunt of the impact with the warehouse wall once again. 'K... team has effectively gotten out of the range of fire... Jack can't track Tyrone or Tandy, I'm hiding in the shadows... and Rahney could careless if he tries dropping a building on her.' He added with a slight smirk, knowing his redheaded team-mate didn't back down from a fight with someone that truly annoyed her. 'Let's see... Merlin is the bigger threat at the moment being the unknown,' he thought, 'besides... I really hate being called a mutie.'  
  
Rahne held her battered and bruised shoulder with one hand, her lupine eyes blazing with annoyance, 'Okay... that's it... I'm killing someone,' she growled to herself, feeling a familiar haze settle over her. Making a quick scent count she pinpointed everyone in the room, Tolen had taken the high ground and was up near the rafters doing his Spider-man impersonation. Cloak had also found a nice shadow behind Jack along the wall to stand in, while Legion and the little bugger of a mage were still standing tall in the middle of the warehouse. 'Hmmm,' she thought, golden eyes narrowing as she noted a movement in the shadow Cloak was standing in, a feral smile tugging at the corner of the wolf's mouth catching Dagger's hand - hidden from human eyes - signing to her. Moving her own left hand a bit behind her, she started to sign one handed, knowing that Tolen was watching from above, sensing his eyes on her. It was a favourite trick of the Demonspawns, using a wide-range of methods to communicate ranging from complex mini-headsets to telepathy to simple American Sign Language. The latter method learned out of necessity after one of their team-mates was rendered temporarily deaf after Siryn was forced to sonic lance a villain and had been too close not to be affected as well.   
  
From his perch near the ceiling, Tolen grinned widely, 'God I love team work,' he thought catching onto what Rahne was signing to him, knowing she could tell from his scent that he had gotten the message. 'Okay... Cloak is going after the male-Sybil over there... that leaves Merlin to me, Dagger, and Rahney. Man... and to think I can't remember that damn newt spell... oh well, just have to do this the old fashion way... beat the hell out of him THEN introduce him to a 'real' magic-user. I wonder if Magik has fed S'ym yet?' Giving his battle-axe a one-handed twirl for a final time, knowing that it was not shiny enough to catch the light on anything due to the Asgardian metals used to make it, he drew back his arm and sent it flying. Not really aiming for anything, that wasn't the point, it didn't have to hit anywhere near Legion or the wannabe Merlin.   
  
That wasn't its purpose; the battle-axe was just the go signal, having been chosen years in advance during long hard hours of training. As the axe left his hand, Tolen was already on the move not wanting Legion to get a fix on his location, counting in his head as he flipped and rolled in the air manoeuvring his body to get into striking position on his target. He knew that Rahne's own agility and acrobatic prowess was nearly a par with his in the air - when he wasn't adding to his leaps with a little extra kinetic boost absorbed from bounding around like a frog. Keeping to the shadows of the ceiling, not caring if his silhouette was shadowed on the floor below, he knew he was simply moving too fast for Jack or Merlin to keep up with him and predict his path.   
  
Rahne slowly eased into a crouch, growling lowly at Legion keeping his attention focused on her as Merlin continued to chant. 'That's it you stupid Sassenach,' she thought to herself, feeling a faint stirring in the airflow as Tolen released his battle-axe, 'I'm the one ya want, don pay attention ta the radge bounding around over head... I'm the threat ya misbegotten excuse fer a bampot.'   
  
Jack Wayne glanced around rapidly trying to locate the other three mutants, knowing they hadn't of gotten far, 'no matter,' he thought smugly, 'I'll get them later... right now I'm going to take out the puppy-girl.' He smirked inwardly as he felt one particular personality trapped within his mind protest in terror. 'That's right David... I'm going to kill the puppy-girl... and there isn't...' His inward gloating to the ten-year old who was the rightful owner of the body he was currently in charge of, was cut off as Tolen's battle-axe suddenly came tearing out of the shadowy ceiling to embed itself in a nearby steel pillar. The battle-axe impacted with enough force to literally shake the pillar, a low thud echoing throughout the warehouse followed by a loud growl.  
  
Legion stared in confusion at the battle-axe mildly vibrating, its razor sharp head buried two-thirds the way into the pillar, he was able to tear his eyes away from it at the growl, only to be engulfed in darkness. Cloak grinned wickedly as he appeared behind Jack, his arms reaching out and pulling the psycho-kinetic into his dark void holding his prisoner tight. Rahne didn't take her eyes off of Jack, before she suddenly leaped for the magic-user, her claws extended, a loud unholy growl deep within her throat as her eyes glowed a fiery red. At the same time, Tolen bounded off a pillar and came flying head first, a fist guiding his body as he aimed for Merlin.   
  
The little man's eyes widened in shock as the snarling beast suddenly leaped toward him, in his terror miscasting his spell as his survival instincts kicked in telling him to run. With panicked eyes, he raised both hands palms up toward the wolf trying to gather enough energy to stop the creature so he could complete his chant; however, before he could complete anything a shard of pure white light hit him from behind. Dagger having gotten the drop on him after Cloak dropped her off behind Merlin while he went after Legion. With a scream, he felt his spell go awry, sending a massive shock through him and the two mutants closing in on him. A blinding light filled the warehouse following the scream, as it dissipated Merlin - eyes wide - dropped to his knees then flat on his face, leaving only Cloak and Dagger standing.  
  
"What? Where are Rahne and Tolen?" Dagger asked, recovering the quickest and looking around for her two team-mates. Nearby, Cloak opened his cape and released Legion curled up in a little ball.   
  
"Huh? Where?" an Arabic accented voice asked, as Legion unfolded himself from the fetal position he was in and stood to look around. "You must be Cloak," the man said after a moment, smiling at the brooding dark-skinned man standing there, "I am Jamul."  
  
***************************  
  
Elsewhere -   
  
Rahne's eyes widened as her target disappeared along with the entire warehouse, pushing aside her shock almost instantly she allowed her form to shift into a full wolf making herself smaller in the process. At the same time, Tolen let out a loud curse already turning his body in the air getting his feet under him so he could ricochet off of the nearest object easier. The two passed each other without making contact, both being highly agile and well versed in avoiding one another.   
  
Rahne used both sets of paws to avoid making intimate contact with the large pine tree that had appeared in the middle of her flight path. Front paws hitting the bark first she snapped her body around quick, feeling several muscles pull as she manoeuvred her back legs into position so she could jump clear and land on all fours beside the tree. Upon landing on she immediately shifted back to human form, to speed up her healing factor so she would experience the least amount of discomfort. Looking around she noted that she and Tolen were now in some kind of small wooded area; although, she could clearly hear automobiles nearby, 'we must be close to a road,' she thought, noting that it sounded like the vehicles were moving at highway speeds. 'Where the devil are we?'  
  
Tolen hit his tree with both feet absorbing most of the impact and making a tiny rebound leap and a back flip to come to a stop next to Rahne. "What the hell?" he questioned looking around the area, after a moment he closed his eyes and hit the side of his head with the palm of his hand. Opening his eyes once more, "damn... I wasn't seeing things," he said, before turning to Rahne, "you okay?' Holding out a hand, he pulled her up as she took it, the two taking a look around, "any idea where we are?"  
  
"None... although I do hear lots of traffic... we're near a highway," she replied, one hand going to her bruised ribs.   
  
"Yeah... I can hear it too... must be pretty close than," he said with a self-mocking grin, knowing that when it came to the hearing department Rahne was the best in the Demonspawns period. "Might as well go take a look... who knows maybe some one would take pity on us and give us a lift."  
  
Twenty minutes later, the two found themselves standing in front of a green highway sign wearing matching expression, "Where the hell is Bayville?" Tolen asked one eyebrow arched as he tried to place the name.  
  
"Don look at me... this isna my country," Rahne said, cocking her head to the side as she stared at the sign, "five miles that way," she added with a shake of her head, "good thing we got comfortable shoes."  
  
"Oh yeah," Tolen absently agreed looking up at the sky with a frown, "is it just me or is it not only daylight again... but the wrong season too?"  
  
"Aye... I ken smell the pollen in the air... its early spring here," Rahne said, as Tolen took off his duster, "wherever here is."  
  
"Maybe we can get some answers in this Bayville place," Tolen suggested, slipping his mobile phone into one of the hidden pockets of his duster. Wherever they were, it was playing havoc with the handheld, when he tried to dial headquarters he got a message telling him that the number didn't exist. Carefully folding the jacket, he tossed it over his right shoulder, the sleeves on his grey pullover pushed up to his elbows, as they set out toward the mysterious Bayville, to hopefully find some answers to some very important questions. Like where in the world were they?  
  
End Part One. 


	2. Chapter 2 Friendly Faces

Title: Demonspawns: Never A Dull Moment (2/?)  
Author: RahneWolfe & ShadowDrake  
Disclaimer: see part one for all disclaimers and notes unless otherwise indicated.  
  
DEMONSPAWNS: NEVER A DULL MOMENT (2/?)  
- Friendly Faces -  
  
Seven Miles later: Twin Oaks Shopping Centre -  
  
Rahne crouched down in front of the newspaper stand and read the front page through the clear glass, "Bugger," she muttered to herself noting the date. "Oh... Tolen... lad," she said in a louder voice glancing over to the soda machine where her team-mate was frowning over the selection. "Ken I see ya fer a moment?" she asked a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth a mischievous light shining in her eyes, "there is something I want ya ta see."   
  
With hand poised over the coin slot, Tolen arched an eyebrow as he turned toward the redhead. "How come I don't like that look in your eyes?" he asked, pocketing the quarter.   
  
"Take a look at the date on today's paper," Rahne said with a nod of her head as he crouched down beside her.  
  
"Well now... isn't that just lovely?" Tolen said sarcastically after a few moments, "no wonder the mobile isn't working... we're only ten years in the past. The number hasn't been created yet." He noted, cocking his head a bit as he read the cover store on the paper. "You remember what we were doing in two thousand two?" He asked her, his mind stirring a bit at memories as he tired to recall where he during the time period in question.  
  
"Let's see... late two thousand three/early two thousand four, we were on Muir Island recovering from that raid on the Shi'ar Royal Palace... which ol' Lilandra has yet ta forgive us fer... something about unwarranted destruction and needless violence," Rahne said, her eyes taking on a hint of mischief and barely contained glee at the thought of that particular battle. A lot of pint up aggression had been turned loose on the Royal Guard as she and her comrades raced to stop the execution of Lilandra and their mentor Charles Xavier, not to mention removing a mad woman from the throne. Although if Rahne and Tolen had gotten their way, Deathbird would have more then just been removed from power. However, due to politics and being related to Lilandra in the first place, prevented that from happening.   
  
"Yeah well... that couldn't be helped," Tolen replied dryly, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, "Shi'ar disrupters don't come with a 'stun' setting. Besides the Royal Guard were doing their best to turn us into mulch... I take things like that personally. "   
  
Returning the smirk with a truly wolfish grin, her upper and lower set of fangs peeking out of her mouth, "Aye... and before that... we spent nearly five an' a half months in Magneto's regen-tanks," Rahne added, losing all trace of humour as she remembered that period of time, her eyes literally glowing with rage momentarily.  
  
"The arena," Tolen echoed in a harsh whisper, his own mind going back to the living hell of a Selena ruled Nova Roma where he and Rahne were forced to fight for their lives on a daily basis in the coliseum. "God I hated that place," he added giving himself a shake, forcibly shoving aside the memories of the remote kingdom by-passed by time deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle. However, their living nightmare ended with a very annoyed Magneto accompanied by several Avengers and X-Men in an all out assault against the ancient city. It turned out that Magneto had been on the trail of Nova Roma's self-styled goddess Selene who had strong ties to the New York City based Hellfire Club that had recently run afoul of the mutant master of magnetism. While Tolen never did find out just why Magneto had been looking for Selene or why several of Earth's mightiest heroes were willingly aiding him in his search, he really didn't ask too many questions about it either. He was just glad to be out of the slave pens of Nova Roma and as far away from the ancient city-state as possible. However, while over the years he and Rahne had gone back to Nova Roma; they did make sure to avoid visiting the coliseum least they give into the urge to destroy the place in a fit of rage. Besides Magma made them promise not to destroy her hometown before letting either of them set one foot into Nova Roma territory.   
  
"Does it bother you that we seem to be telling time by major injuries here?" He suddenly asked, more to distract his mind from the horrors of the slave pens and arena. He still woke up in cold sweats at night recalling the endless battles in the coliseum and getting the hell beat out of him on a near daily basis by the head overseer while that bitch Selene watched and laughed.  
  
Shrugging and giving him a lopsided grin of her own, Rahne pushed herself into a standing position, "nah really we could use other means ta tell time, such as how many times I've died," she replied dryly with a shrug, her mind going to two of her 'deaths' where she was literally wiped out of existence and recreated once more. Once to heal her nearly shattered mind, the other a cruel act by a power-crazed entity. "If ya're truly curious I'll be sure ta ask Doc Samson the next time Val sends us ta see him," she commented with a slightly wicked grin, "as fer what we were doing in early spring of two thousand two...we were tangling with that demon bear that was after Dani."   
  
"Oh yeah," the young man replied also rising, "how the hell could I have forgotten that thing? It only tried to hack me in two." He added with a shake of the head, "why does every super enhanced being we meet try to turn us into kibble? I mean its not like either of us wear the big 'X' shaped target prominently shown on X-Men uniforms," he went on, "so why do we keep attracting refugees from slasher movies that just have to sacrifice us to some demented godling or they won't get their decoder ring and get their lifetime membership to the horror movie of the month club?"   
  
"Well at least we know 'when' we are," Rahne said, "although, there is still something odd here. When that bear mauled Dani... it made national headlines... 'Bear Attack In Upstate New York'... Yana collected a bunch of them... put it all in that memory book of hers."  
  
"Yeah, yeah she calls it her 'Book of Injuries and Embarrassing Media Coverage' says its the permanent record of the Demonspawns' trial by fire or something like that," he agreed with a thoughtful nod of his head, his brows furrowing a bit in thought, "I think she just takes morbid pleasure in all the times we bled for the general populace without getting a thank you."   
  
"Aye well this is Illyana Rasputin we're talkin' about here... she considers horror movies ta be comedies," Rahne added dryly, one eyebrow arched in grim humour.  
  
"Ahh, come on!" Tolen protested with a big grin, putting one arm around her shoulders, "'The Werewolf of NYU' was a hilarious movie... had the entire team rolling on the floor."  
  
"It was na funny," Rahne growled lowly, her eyes flashing once more, "It was bloody embarrassing and rather racist. Na werewolf with an ounce of self-respect would act like that... and they certainly wouldna be stalking the campus of NYU!" She grumbled darkly.  
  
Tossing his head back and laughing, he shook his head knowing that when it came to 'werewolf movies' Rahne tended to be very bias in her rather low opinion of them. "You're just mad because one of the werewolves was butchering a highland accent," he said, leaning closer to her ear with a big grin, "besides you got to admit it was funny as hell when the producers and director got a really good look at our lawyer when we sued them for deformation of character and using a likeness of you without permission. And it was hilarious watching the defendants nearly wet themselves when She-Hulk showed up in the courtroom in her business suit."  
  
"Uh huh... ya and every other male in the courtroom were more interested in looking at her legs then actually listening ta what she had ta say," Rahne countered with a smirk.  
  
"Well if I tried actual 'touching' she would have used me for a punching bag... and I don't even want to think of what you'd do to me," he defended. "Besides I'm more into russet red then emerald green," he added, "and you're only an inch taller then me... I like looking my lady in the eye... keeps me from getting slapped if she should think I'm staring at something else." He went on dryly, "and you're always warm... handy during long winter nights." Tolen finished waggling his eyebrows suggestively.  
  
"Get ya soda ya overgrown swamp-hopper," Rahne ordered in a mock gruff voice, rolling her eyes for effect, "we still got ta figure out where we are and how ta get home."  
  
"Yeah, yeah I'm going," Tolen said, pulling away and going back to the soda machine, "you're getting mean in your old age," he muttered, then chuckled at the low growl directed at him, "but I'd say it would be a safe bet to assume that Tandy and the tall, dark, and grumpy one will sound the alarm and call in the others to start searching for us. Yana and Wanda alone should feel the after affects of Merlin's spell and start the tracking process to find us. I say we lurk around this Bayville place for the time being, see what mischief and mayhem we can stir up in the meantime."  
  
"Ya just looking forward to anonymity," Rahne accused, with a smirk.  
  
"Why not?" he said dropping in a few quarters and making his selection, grinning brightly as two drinks dropped out instead of one, "cool... besides our counterparts are teenagers here... and hopefully have not had their entire lives screwed over by some reporter wanting to make a name for herself by exposing the private lives of mutant superheroes for the entire world to see." Reaching down for the two sodas, he tossed one to Rahne, "at least the vultures calling themselves journalists aren't camped out on my babka's stoop... most of the people in the old neighbourhood know me... and regardless of what they may think of me... they are very protective of their own and the neighbourhood."  
  
"A third of Kinross has the same attitude toward me," Rahne acknowledged with a nod, "the other two thirds want ta turn me inta a throw rug or have me burned at a stake."  
  
"Ah... but lets not forget the rare one percent of Kinross that want to use you for training purposes for the International Order of Werewolf Hunters... heard they were making Kraven the Hunter their poster boy." Tolen added with a rueful smirk.  
  
"One percent?!" Rahne cried with an arched eyebrow, "ya better check ya numbers lad... I've had more crosses, cloves of garlic... and silver whatnots shoved inta me face or shot in me general direction then I ken count."  
  
"Ah come on... even you had to admit the silver bullets boiled in holy water and dipped into the garlic oil was pretty original," Tolen countered, "I hated having to break that idiot's arm... well not really, he deserved if for buying into Craig's load of bull... but it was original."  
  
"Aye an' mum just loved having ta dig that bullet out of me shoulder ta," Rahne remarked dryly, "fer a doctor she still has a lot ta learn about anatomy at times... that one thing she wanted ta do ta that git wasna possible."  
  
"That one even had Wolverine stumped," Tolen nodded with a wicked grin tugging at his lips, "but hey... I figure as long as she's not mad at me, I could careless what she is willing to do in defence of her kids. Besides I already had my death threats from Moira and Kevin so I'm pretty safe as long as I don't break your heart... I get to keep all of my body parts away from rusty scalpels and/or other sharp pointy objects."  
  
"Coward," Rahne playfully grumbled with a shake of her head as she opened her bottle of soda slowly careful not to let it fizz over on her.  
  
"Oh sure... laugh... I'm the one that had to put up with being threatened by every member, past and present, of the X-Men who thought I was absolutely no good and should be barred from breathing the same air as you," Tolen said in mock outrage, a bright grin tugging at his lips, "not that it stopped me. But some of those threats were just painful to hear...and Rogue had visual aids! And she performed a demo... how the hell she got her hands on a working guillotine, let alone got the Professor to let her set it up on school grounds, is beyond me." He added with a shudder, a cold shiver racing up his spine and a certain part of his anatomy cringed at the mere memory.   
  
***************************  
  
Rahne stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening as she caught two very familiar scents. "Er... lad... ya want ta look over your left shoulder and tell me what ya see?" she asked rather calmly after they had walked past several storefronts.  
  
Frowning as he gave Rahne a long look, not liking the tone of her voice one bit, he casually looked over his shoulder, his brow furrowing at the sight. "Looks like two teens window shopping," he said shrugging not sure what the big deal was.  
  
"Look harder at the redhead lad... picture her with her hair pulled back." Rahne advised a grinning tugging at the corner of her mouth as she put the cap back on her soda bottle.  
  
"Rachel," Tolen breathed, before closing his eyes and giving his head a shake, "no... Jean," he corrected with a slow grin.  
  
"Aye... and the girl beside her smells ta much like Kitty Pryde ta be a coincidence," Rahne added.  
  
"Okay... this is... strange," Tolen said, his eyebrows arching in disbelief as his hearing picked up a rather interesting accent coming out of the teenage Kitty Pryde. "Er..." he got out raising one finger as his mind tried to function past what he just heard, "ah...no I did not just hear that." He told himself somewhat firmly, determined not to accept what his ears kept telling him he just heard. Turning to Rahne, counting on her enhanced hearing to set him straight, he noted the somewhat ill expression she had on her face. "You heard it too didn't you?" He said with growing fear.  
  
Rahne opened her mouth then closed it, shutting her eyes and gave her head a firm shake, before acknowledging Tolen's own greenish looking complexion, "Kitty Pryde seems ta have developed a...... ... 'valley girl' accent," Rahne said in a monotone trying to find the proper words to convey the absurdities running through her head at the moment. She was able to hold her expression for a long moment before she glanced deep into Tolen's eyes and they both broke down into a fit of laughter.  
  
Holding onto his girlfriend, Tolen tried to sober himself, "Oh god... we got to get her on tape," he managed to say in a low voice, "I know people that will pay good money to hear the self-proclaimed 'goddess of computing' with that accent." He finally got out tears of laughter running down his cheeks as he buried his head in the crook of Rahne's neck and shoulder.  
  
***************************  
  
Not far away, standing in front of a clothing store, Kitty Pryde looked over at the couple nearby who seemed to be laughing at something. Frowning a bit she tried to figure out what seemed off about the two, other then the fact they appeared to be dressed a bit warmly for the early spring day. Her eyes noting the black duster tossed over the guy's shoulder, who seemed to be leaning heavily on the woman, his face turned away from her and Jean.  
  
"Don't stare Kitty, its rude," Jean said in a low voice, noting Kitty's distraction.  
  
"Sorry... but don't you like... think those two are strange?" the younger girl questioned turning toward the taller redhead. "I mean... its like I know that woman from somewhere... she seems familiar," she went on shrugging a bit, as she cast another look at the couple, noting the woman's short red hair that seemed to have a bit of a curl in it; one lock draped across her forehead as if determined to be different from all the other hairs. While she wasn't close enough to see the woman's eyes, Kitty was positive they were intense in colour, very direct in what they looked at, 'predator eyes,' her mind filled in.  
  
"Kitty!" Jean hissed lowly catching the stray thought, "will you stop... you've been watching too many horror movies." She admonished the younger X-Man, "you're seeing things... they are just a couple having a little fun and enjoying themselves. That is probably her husband and he may not like you calling his wife a predator... how would you feel if someone did that to you?"  
  
Grinning sheepishly Kitty gave the couple another quick look, catching a view of Tolen's face in the process, "Well... he is like.. kind of a hottie," she admitted with a lopsided grin, "oh no... they are like coming this way... could they have heard me?" She got out, panicking a bit as her face turned beet red at the thought of the man hearing what she just called him and in front of his wife no less.  
  
****************************  
  
Tolen bit his lip and ducked his head trying not to totally lose what little self-restraint he had left, having heard exactly what the teen had just called him. Reaching down he grabbed Rahne's free hand and gave it a squeeze, "She's just a kid Rahney... wait until she finds out just who she called a 'hottie'," he said in a devilish whisper leaning over to kiss the side of Rahne's head, a wicked grin shining in his eyes. "She could very well have kittens when she learns my full name." Remembering his first meeting with the big bad X-Man calling herself Sprite, at the time, Kitty Pryde took one look at him and called him gutter trash who couldn't be trusted not to steal the hubcaps off of all the Professor's vehicles. Not that he ever did anything to change her opinion of him, of course Kitty had never been one of his favourite people, preferring to just tolerate the phaser when he was forced to socialize with her. The feeling was more the mutual, Kitty being among the handful of X-Men that wouldn't let go of the past and let him try to make amends of some of his previous transgressions against the world and other mutants.   
  
"Let's go introduce ourselves," Rahne suggested in a low tone keeping one eye on the pair, "maybe we ken learn a few things from them in the process... it would help if they ken lead us ta the Professor."   
  
"Yeah," Tolen replied his lips still near the side of Rahne's head, "aside from Kitty's new accent I'm not getting any strange vibes on my 'paranoia meter'," he went on, referring to his sixth sense he had developed over the years as a form of self-preservation, "but you usually know when a telepath is about before I do anyway... we're the unknowns... even if they do know our counterparts I guarantee she wouldn't be expecting our shields or how we use our powers." He said, pulling away from Rahne and holding out his arm for her to take, a grin shining in his brown eyes. Years of experience and being in hostile situations had allowed him to develop very thick mental shields. While he couldn't keep a truly powerful telepath, such as Professor Xavier or Jean Grey, out of his head, he had learned to tell when he was being scanned and he could keep a low level telepath out of his head for a couple of hours with intense concentration. He was hoping that due to this Jean Grey's youth he would know if she tried a scan if not keep her out altogether.   
  
However, he believed that actually keeping her out of his mind was rather a moot point, if Rahne wanted to approach the two they had to be safe. The werewolf tended to know immediately when a telepath was trying to read her mind or trying to establish an unwanted mental link of any kind. It was one of those quarks in Rahne Sinclair's powers that still puzzled everyone; although, it had been theorized that her enhanced senses detected telepathic activity around her on a subconscious level. Meaning that while Rahne wasn't always aware she was doing it, she could pinpoint an astral form before it fully materialized in the room, sort of like an animal growling and snarling into empty space in a haunted house. Just because a regular human couldn't see it, didn't mean it was invisible to her. Over the years, she has horned that ability to near razor sharpness, being one of only a handful of people to ever be able to catch either the Professor or Jean Grey totally unaware. She was certainly the only non-telepath or teleporter that could do so repeatedly.  
  
****************************  
  
Jean Grey straightened a bit as the couple approached her, noting the man's mischievous grin as if he knew a secret he couldn't wait to share with others. His dancing brown eyes darting over to Kitty every now and then, shining with suppressed mirth, almost like a little brother about to tease a girl by pulling her pigtails and running away. He was wearing a long sleeve dark grey mock-turtleneck shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, the fabric taunt over his chest and stomach outlining well-developed muscles giving mute testimony that for a little guy he was powerfully built. His jeans, although new and loose fitting in nature hide powerful leg muscles another sign that he was used to hard labour and kept himself fit and trim. He had a black duster folded neatly in half lengthwise draped over one-shoulder being a bit too warm to actually be wearing it.   
  
Although, it was the way he held himself that set off a warning bell in the back of her mind. Like she had seen him somewhere before, although, she was sure she'd remember meeting him before. While he wasn't want she'd call classically handsome, he didn't scare small children either. He had a rugged face, sort of like Mister Logan's, as if he had seen and done things that had aged him before his time. There was a certain sadness that lurked in his laughing brown eyes, a sadness that cut to the soul of his being. His rough beard was neatly trimmed as if he had only recently begun to grow it and was carefully shaping it into a style he liked. His long hair was pulled back from his face, revealing a scar along one side of his face that started at the temple of his left eye and ran down to just past his ear. Upon closer inspection she noted a scar just above that eye that split his eyebrow like he had been hit with a broken bottle or something at one point in his life. But is was how he held himself that intrigued her the most, he seemed to stand in a bit of a crouch similar to the way Kurt did when he wasn't wearing his holo-watch... or that creepy little Todd Tolensky.   
  
Jean made an unconscious face at that last thought; dismissing it almost immediately, for this guy to be mistaken for the Toad he'd have to be dipped in pool of mud and slime and have his teeth painted green. Not to mention loosing about a hundred or so pounds of muscle, since Todd Tolensky wouldn't be caught dead lifting anything that weighted over ten pounds without complaining for the next week about sprained body parts. Shaking her head slightly she turned her attention to the woman with him, her eyes immediately focusing on twin blue-green orbs that seemed to capture her and draw her in. 'Kitty was right... these are the eyes of a predator,' she thought to herself, as the woman smiled at her, Jean's eyes widening in disbelief as she caught the hint of a set of fangs peeking out of the stranger's mouth.   
  
The woman cocked her head to the side slightly in question, causing Jean's heart to skip a beat immediately recognizing the act as something one of the younger mutants at the Institute did when she was curious about something. Narrowing her eyes a bit, she looked closer at the woman with the short fiery red hair who seemed to be studying her with a hint of mischief lurking in her direct, probing gaze. The woman had a quiet, intense look about her, as if she was always watching the activity around her not merely observing it as a normal human would. She seemed to look into people as if sensing things other could not, but Jean felt no stray telepathic scan brush against her mental shields, so either this woman wasn't a telepath or she was just a lot more subtle with her probes. Jean closed her eyes momentarily, her mind working as she tried to place just where she had seen that woman's gaze before. Something inside of her whispering that she knew this person in front of her, maybe not the male, but most definitely the female.   
  
Only to have her heart jump into her throat and Kitty gave a startled gasp as the man suddenly spoke in a laughing tone. "Cut it out Rahney... you're freaking Jean out," Tolen said nudging his team-mate playfully and shaking his head ruefully. "I don't think they are used to that direct gaze of yours."  
  
"Not hardly lad, I ken smell meself on both of them," Rahne replied dryly, "they are used ta me alright... Jean was just trying ta figure out where she's seen me from is all." She went on, winking at Jean, a full-fledged smile lighting up her face displaying her upper and lower set of fangs to the world without a care.  
  
"Uh huh," Tolen replied folding his arms to regard her with a slight smirk, privately enjoying the bewildered look he was getting from the two teenagers. Just because the X-Men and his own team, the Demonspawns, liked to call themselves sister teams there was still a bit of rivalry between the two groups. Not that it ever got out of hand, they were able to be in the same house with one another and not tear it apart in mindless displays of aggression and macho shows of one-ups-manship. Besides, it wasn't often he got to confuse a telepath without getting a psi-bolt being tossed at him in retaliation.  
  
"Wait!" Jean said suddenly, getting the two's attention once more, "you're...Rahne Sinclair," she went on slowly, her brows furrowing in thoughts as she stared into the woman's eyes. Now that she heard the woman speak she knew why she seemed so familiar, this had to be an adult Rahne Sinclair, there was no denying that piercing gaze and way she seemed to look inside a person. That was just how the young shape shifter back at the Institute looked at people, always with long silent, probing eye as if she was studying every minute detail of a person peering deep into a person's soul before making a judgement.  
  
"Aye," Rahne replied just as slow, "well in about ten years anyway, if I read today's date properly." She added with a self-mocking smile, "I didna mean ta startle ya or Kitty there... we... Tolen and I were hoping ya could help us out."  
  
"I'm not sure I understand," Jean said, glancing over to the man who had settled down a bit, leaning one shoulder against the brick storefront, willing to let Rahne do all the talking.   
  
"Well several hours ago, Tolen and I were in Manhattan... ten years inta the future," Rahne said, getting right to the point, "we were trying ta stop a magic user from casting a spell... next thing we know we're about five miles outside of a place called Bayville."   
  
"So... like this magic user sent you and... Tolen, is it?" Kitty spoke up, smiling sweetly at Tolen for a moment, "here... I don't get it, what do you need us for?"  
  
Rahne cocked her head at Kitty once more, trying to resolve this teenage version of Kitty Pryde with the one she knew and coming up with two completely different people. "I ken smell the Professor on both of ya... ya both have been around him in the last twenty-four hours," Rahne began.  
  
"Ewwww," Kitty interrupted making a face, "you can... 'like' smell other people on me?" She said making a disgusted face.  
  
Tolen bit his lip to try to keep his laughter under control at both Kitty's disgusted look and the arched eyebrow Rahne was giving the girl. 'Oh god... I have got to get this kid on tape,' he told himself firmly already planning the mental torture he could put the older version of Kitty Pryde through with it.   
  
Jean shook her head a bit sadly, catching Tolen's eye and sharing an amused grin with him, sometimes Kitty could really be dense. Although, she knew Kitty would probably have a heart attack if she only knew just how much Rahne Sinclair relied on her senses. How the werewolf kept an eye on everyone at the Institute using her enhanced senses, always checking and rechecking scents. Half the time Jean seriously doubted that Rahne was even aware she was doing it as the shape shifter entered the dining room for breakfast and would do her morning 'checks' of everyone at the table.   
  
Jean herself only became aware of Rahne's subconscious habit after coming home from a date early one night. The younger girl 'knew' something had been bothering the telepath when she had come home. It had been rather shocking to Jean to learn that Rahne had known that Duncan had gotten 'grabby' with her and had tried to get too physical. The shape shifter didn't have to be there to witness it, she could tell by Jean's mortified scent alone. The werewolf had to be psychokinetically restrained from hunting down Duncan Matthews and ripping his heart, or any other body parts, out in a blind rage. It was only with the Professor's aid and a promise to make sure she was never left alone with Duncan again did the werewolf calm down or for Mister Logan not to do a little hunting of his own for that matter.   
  
It was after that incident that Jean started to take more of an interest in the shape shifter's abilities, reading everything she could get her hands on about wolves in general and how they interacted with others. It had helped Jean form a better understanding of Rahne Sinclair and how the younger girl tended to view the world around her. During Jean's research she stumbled across how a wolf used its senses for hunting and identifying members of its pack, upon retrospect Jean realized Rahne did a lot very wolf-like things in her daily interactions with others, most things that were completely unconscious in nature.  
  
Turning back to this 'older' version of Rahne, Jean noted the changes a decade had apparently made in the shape shifter. The woman before her was more confident, she held herself with an assurance that the teenage Rahne was still struggling with. Gone was the shyness that seemed to be firmly rooted in Rahne Sinclair's psyche that refused to be lifted no matter how many times some of the more adventuresome students at the Institute tried to break it down. In its place was a wily, mischievous being who was comfortable in her own skin, while Jean wasn't sure who this Tolen guy was; she felt he could be trusted. If Rahne was comfortable around him, laughing with him in a manner her teenage-self never did, he had to be a friend.   
  
Jean had discovered that Rahne's 'instinctual' reaction to someone or something was rarely wrong. The werewolf could tell more about a person from a scent then a telepath could with a surface scan any day, and Jean knew and respected that. The telepath had a feeling that in time and with experience the Rahne she knew would become a very valuable team-member to have in first contact situations that could become messy in a heartbeat. She was secretively pleased her hunch was right, it seemed by the looks of the adult standing before her who was currently giving her an amused, arched eyebrow like she knew just what Jean was thinking.  
  
"As I was saying," Rahne began again, choosing to ignore Kitty's reaction to something that was a natural part of who and what she was. 'She's just a child,' she told herself, 'from the way she is holding herself she is still new to her powers,' a part of her pleased that at least in this time, in this world where was a Kitty Pryde that hadn't aged a lifetime in a few short years. "Ya and Kitty have been around the Professor and many of the people Tolen and I know as friends and allies. I'm hoping that ya'll be willing ta introduce us ta the Professor... where we're from strangers showing up at the school unannounced are usually treated ta a very rude welcome. I prefer ta avoid any misunderstands... I don like needless violence if it ken be avoided."  
  
Jean nodded thoughtfully, her mind working over the problem, "So you think it would go over better if we go in first?"  
  
"You're only the second most powerful telepath on the planet Jean," Tolen said with a grin, "who better then you to tell the Professor we come in peace? You can even borrow our driver licences as further proof... as long as you promise not to laugh at the picture, I was having a 'tame' hair day and look like a geek in mine." He went on, looking rather embarrassed, "I don't know how I ended up looking like a life-time member of the Dweebs of America Association." He finished with a mock shudder.   
  
"Is he always like this?" Kitty asked with a laugh, finding herself smiling at Tolen's antics, he seemed to be going out of his way to put her and Jean at ease. 'Who is this guy?' she wondered, trying to figure out if she knew him, 'and is he really with Rahney?' she asked herself, glancing at his hands and not seeing a ring; although, she did note how rough and scarred his knuckles were like he did a lot with his hands.   
  
"Ah...yeah," Rahne said after a few moments, arching another eyebrow at Kitty not liking the minute changes in the girl's scent. 'Cor... I had forgotten how annoying Kitty was at this age...even without the bloody accent.' She thought firmly ignoring the urge to growl at the teenager. "Huh?" Rahne half growled, her demeanour changing suddenly as she detected another scent in the air. "Question... Sabretooth... friend or foe?" She asked turning her head to the side to look further down the row of storefronts.   
  
Following Rahne's gaze, "Aw man... it's the blonde-fleabag," Tolen groaned, "god... he's even hairier in this time... I don't remember him being that hairy."   
  
"Why nah? He used ya fer a punching bag enough times," Rahne asked, a low growl rumbling in her chest.   
  
"Well yeah... but that was when I was young and stupid," Tolen replied, his eyes hardening a bit, as he watched the feral mutant turn toward the little group with a snarl. "Uh... bet he just picked up our scents, poor bastard... he must be awfully confused right now."  
  
"Picking up Pyro ta," Rahne commented jerking her thumb behind her toward the parking lot.   
  
"Ohhh, ambush," Tolen noted with a grin, "looks like they have their eyes set on Jeannie and Kitty... should we ruin their afternoon and beat the hell out of them?"  
  
"Aye," Rahne replied, eyeing her target with narrowed eyes, "Tolen and I will run interference, ya and Kitty head fer home," she directed.  
  
"But..." Kitty began.  
  
"No buts kid," Tolen said sliding his duster off his shoulder and handing it to her, "you don't play games with these two... they are pros at what they do if nothing else, never underestimate them or you're dead."  
  
"More reason not to leave you two here to face them," Kitty protested.  
  
"We're unknown ta them lass," Rahne countered, "even if Sabretooth does recognize mine or Tolen's scents, Pyro won't an' we don plan ta let them compare notes. Odds are they are here fer ya and Jean, they will be looking fer any attacks from ya."  
  
"She's right Kitty," Jean said putting her hand on the phaser's shoulder, "we need to get out of here and inform the others. Can you two find the Institute later?" She asked, turning to Tolen with the question.  
  
"Jeannie... now that hurt... if Rahney can't track it, it doesn't exist, besides I'm quite capable of looking up the name Charles Xavier in the phonebook," he replied, "er... he IS in the phonebook, right?" At Jean's answering nod, "good... just let the Prof know we'll be swinging by later... and Kitty... don't get too attached to my duster." Tolen added with a wink.  
  
"On my mark?" Jean asked, taking a deep breath glancing over to Scott's car. Wetting her lips, she grasped Kitty's hand, "Kitty keep us phased until we get to the car, Rahne... Tolen...I really want to see you both later at the Institute... don't make me come looking for you." She tired to sound self-assured and not think about leaving two people to face mutants she knew for a fact were homicidal maniacs. Even if her rational side kept telling her that Tolen and Rahne did have the advantage over the two, still she didn't like leaving them to fight a battle that wasn't theirs.  
  
"Yup... that's the Jean Grey we all know and love," Tolen chuckled, with a grin, "we'll be there just make sure you two are waiting for us... or we'll come looking for 'you' and I've got a well-known reputation for destroying other people's property in fits of rage... and you really don't want to know what Rahney does to people that have annoyed her by kidnapping her friends. Its quite disgusting... so keep yourselves safe until we meet again, will you?"   
  
"We will," Jean said, smiling despite herself, "see you later."  
  
"After dark," Rahne put in, easing into a battle stance, "ta be on the safe side, don want ta lead any 'strays' ta ya or the others." She said, using the codeword among the Demonspawns for the media that tended to follow around her and her team-mates like demented lost puppies, momentarily forgetting she was not in her proper time.   
  
"Ah... sure," Jean said, not quite sure what Rahne meant by 'strays' the way she said the word, it sounded like she wasn't talking about Sabretooth or Pyro, but if not them than who?   
End Part Two.  
Side Notes: For those of you with limited knowledge of the New Mutants, Wolfsbane, or Marvel canon lore for the most part here are a few points of interest.  
  
1st: Rahne has actually died twice, the first time it was along side most of the New Mutants, when the Beyonder slaughtered the team and further wiped out their entire existence. {As if killing them wasn't heinous enough.} Only to be recreated/resurrected later by the very same Beyonder and set against a collection of Earth's Greatest Heroes during the Second Secret Wars. She was killed/destroyed years later by a nut-terrorist, that actually made the later-era Magneto seem sane, called Haven to remove the mutate/bonding program in Wolfsbane. Life long fans of the werewolf still cringe at her X-Factor stint and how much of a nutcase Rahne was depicted as. Haven destroyed Rahne and recreated her within the span of a few seconds, "healing her in much the same fashion as she planned to heal the Earth... by destroying it and creating a new one more to her liking.' Further, Rahne retains her memories of both deaths as well as her resurrections. Although, she was heavily traumatized - as were her team-mates - over what the Beyonder did to her.  
  
2nd: Dani and the demon bear is an actual story arch in the New Mutants, for those of you that have never heard of the New Mutants... you should run - not walk - to your nearest comic book store and start searching for back issues. Long ago, in a happier time when the writers at Marvel were all sane and actually had cool story lines, there was the sister/novice team of the big bad X-Men called the New Mutants. Take the time to learn about that often over looked team, they were more then just the novices, they were a family and they were well on their way to turning Magneto back into a human being. {Before fate and an insane writer decided to screw Magneto out of his redemption and a good potion of his sanity by turning him into the neo-Hitler... yes there was a time when the Master of Magnetism was more then a two-dimensional madman.}  
  
3rd: Rahne has been able to sense telepathic communication before - she sensed Jamal attempting to contact people outside of David Heller's mind in an actual New Mutant issue. While talking to her 'mum' Moira, she sensed the telepath behind her, turned around, wolf-out and growled at his astral form seconds before his made his presence known to Moira MacTaggart who was facing in the direction he appeared in. So it is not farfetched that she has horned that particular skill, as she got older.  
  
4th: In the comic books Nova Roma is a small city-state in the middle of the Amazon Jungle and not on a small island as in the X-Men: Evolution cartoon, also Amara's father is a Nova Roma Senator.  
  
5th: Kitty Pryde has actually had three codenames in the past, when she first joined the X-Men the Professor gave her the name 'Sprite' which she later changed to 'Ariel' and finally started calling herself 'ShadowCat' after a limited series with Wolverine. In which she journeyed to Japan, got possessed by an evil ninja who hated Logan who she damn near killed... but she's a lot better now. Kitty was reluctant to take the name 'Spirit' because she didn't want any jokes about people pulling her 'tab' - her actual words people not mine. And apparently Kitty was quite colour blind when she first joined the X-Men as anyone can tell who actually own comic books that old... a stylin' superhero she was not! She has actually worn roller-skates into battle with cowboy gloves and dancer leg warmers... people who actually own the issue with her on the cover this way know exactly what I'm talking about here.  
  
6th: The She-Hulk aside from being the Hulk's cousin, an Avenger, and former member of the Fantastic Four... is also a practicing lawyer. Even after getting trapped in her She-Hulk form she continues to be one... the thought of having a giant green bombshell of a lawyer who could hold her own with Thor or Hercules just seems my kind of lawyer. And you know no one has dared call her a 'vulture' and/or a 'leech' in fear of getting their heads ripped off.  
  
7th: Long time fans of the X-Men will tell you that Kitty Pryde using a 'valley girl'-like accent is rather absurd - Kitty is from Deerfield, Illinois rather far from the beaches of Southern California.   
  
8th: Some myths in fact claim that garlic is a way to ward off both werewolves and vampires. Exactly how it is supposed to offend a werewolf is beyond me since as far as I know only Monk's Root {or Wolfsbane} actually has a reputation for being able to ward off a werewolf. Maybe it only works on Italian werewolves or something. 


	3. Chapter 3 Reactions and Confrontations

Title: Demonspawns: Never A Dull Moment (3/?)  
Author: RahneWolfe and ShadowDrake  
Disclaimer: see part one for all disclaimers and notes.  
  
DEMONSPAWNS: NEVER A DULL MOMENT (3/?)  
- Reactions and Confrontations -   
  
"How do you want to handle this?" Tolen asked keeping an eye on Pyro who was approaching the little group with a smug look on his face.  
  
"We hit fast an' hard... nothing fancy," Rahne replied, "they should recognize ya immediately... nah since in giving them any hint ta what ya are truly capable of."  
  
"Yeah... why make the younger me's life more difficult then it already is?" Tolen added with a self-mocking smirk as he thought about how much of a complete idiot he was in his youth. "God, to think... I used to willingly work with these two, what WAS I thinking?" he added more to himself with a look of morbid disbelief on his face, catching Jean's questioning look out of the corner of his eye, "I used to be a bad guy when I was young and stupid." He admitted dryly, turning to look Jean straight in the eye, "but... ahm... things happened... I got my head screwed on straighter and cleaned myself up... a lot ... ... had to... or I wasn't going to have Rahney in my life." He said, "well I would have... but not in the way I wanted. She's a lot more fun to be around when she's not trying to take your head off or rip out important organs." He corrected himself, with a rueful grin, "I promise... to happily explain everything in detail back at the mansion... lets just get rid of these two nut cases first, okay?" He asked with a small hopeful grin, praying the young telepath would go along with the suggestion and keep her questions to herself for the moment.   
  
"Ken we hold this conversation fer later?" Rahne asked in a low growl, "I would like ta get this over with an' be out of here by the time the police arrive."   
  
"Yeah, yeah... I'm working on it," Tolen replied with a grin, "let's really mess with these two... I vote we suit up. I'm not getting my new clothes singed or shredded for these idiots." He suggested getting a wicked grin.   
  
"Aye," Rahne grunted keeping her eyes on the approaching Sabretooth. "Ready when you are."  
  
{Uniform on!} Jean jumped slightly at the very clear mental commands she picked up from the two adults before taking a half step backwards as Rahne and Tolen were momentarily engulfed in a bright light that seemed to originate from within them and expand outward before retreating once more. The telepath closed her eyes and shook her head once before opening her eyes once more to stare at the two in puzzlement, noting in disbelief that the two had suddenly changed clothes.   
  
"Damn" Tolen grunted, as the form of a double-bladed battle-axe flickered in his right hand before disappearing once more, "I can call the 'armour' but not my axe," he commented more to himself then anyone else.   
  
*************************  
At that moment: ten years into the future and on a parallel world -  
A warehouse in Lower Manhattan -   
  
"Give!!" Illyana Rasputin, known to the world as Magik of the Demonspawns, ordered as she tried to remove Tolen's battleaxe from the steel pillar it had been embedded into with a little help of her magic. Growling lowly as the stubborn weapon refused to move the blonde - clad in tight fitting black leather pants with blood red trim and a low cut deep red with black trim corset over a silky red peasant blouse that left her shoulder's bare ensuring that her bust line was made very prominent with added touches of silk here and there, leather and chain mail forearm bracers and knee-high black boots - paused in her task to give the battleaxe a dirty look, releasing a huff of air from her mouth that ruffled her bangs. "Okay... now I get rough," she sneered at the inanimate object determined to get it out of the pillar, "you are going to come out or so help me," she went on, planting one booted foot on the steel pillar and re-gripping the handle of the axe calling up more of her mystical energies to aid her in freeing the weapon. Refusing to surrender the task to someone more qualified to remove it... like her brother who had been visiting her during a rare coinciding downtime for the siblings. But was now currently standing in armoured form not far from her, patiently waiting for her to give up and let him pull it out one-handed. Well it had been a downtime for them - positively enjoyable - before Jack slipped his damn leash and some nut wanna-be mage teleported two of her team-mates to who knows where without so much of a 'screw you Demonspawns' in passing. "I will melt you down and return you to His-Majesty-Wart-the-First in the form of an astray!" she threatened using her magic to give her an extra boost just as the weapon began to flicker briefly in her hands. "What the fuck!!??" she exclaimed as the axe came free and she found herself staring down at the weapon in confusion.  
  
"Huh?" Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch of the Demonspawns, paused in her inspection of the altar set up in the warehouse and turned to her team-mate with a frown having felt something very wrong just a moment ago. The auburn haired woman - clad in a deep scarlet red linen shirt, open at the throat to display a ruby encrusted choker, belted at the waist with a wide stylish belt, worn over leather pants and knee-high scarlet red boots, along with several rings and bracelets on her wrists, and a warm deep red cloak half of which hung drapped over her left shoulder obscuring that side of her body from view, giving mute testimony to her proud gypsy heritage and need to stay warm in very cold weather - put one hand on her hip and the other hand went to her chin where a finger tapped out a rhythm less beat on her paused lips. "Tolen tried to call his axe," she said in claim voice, knowing that a level head was needed if they were to find and return their team-mates safely. Turning her attention inward for a moment, her frown deepened as she checked the little pocket void she used to house the team's uniforms so they did not have to constantly wear them under their street clothes or carry them around in gym bags. Not only was the void useful when seconds counted and they had no time to stop and change clothes. It also enabled them to change clothes no matter where they were, be it on Earth or in a magical realm such as Asgard or Avalon, as long as the team was able to trigger the mental command - to suit up or down - they had access to their battle gear.   
  
Aside from Illyana, who preferred the leather and silk look of her combat gear most days, and Cloak whose namesake was very much apart of him, the rest of the team routinely used the pocket void to house at least two spare uniforms when not needing them. It had taken Wanda nearly a year to design a spell that would allow her team-mates access to the void, and the clothing kept within, so they would be able to change back and forth between their battle gear and street clothes with little hassle. "Rahne and Tolen have both called their battle gear. That's odd... they have called for their summer gear... its much to cold for them to be running around in that at the moment," she noted opening her eyes once more, knowing how much Tolen detested the cold. And, while Rahne didn't feel cold as much as others, she did overheat far easier then her team-mates since she did tend to run around with a permanent fur coat most of the time, "Why the devil would they need their gear?" She wondered aloud, her eyes catching Magik's who now held the battleaxe with one hand the shaft of the powerful weapon resting against a shoulder. "I don't like this... something bad is happening here."  
  
"Yeah... and if the Majestic Wart called for his favourite toy once... he'll do it again." Illyana added, her clear blue eyes hardening in thought, "and knowing those two... they've only suited up if they wanted to intimidate someone or something." She went on; knowing that the two hated drawing attention to themselves, especially since both had been victims of hate crimes in the past and absolutely hated being the centre of attention... even if they were saving the world and countless innocent lives at the time.   
  
"Tolen had me put an add-on spell to both of his weapons so they would always appear in his hands or on his person when he suited up... I just renewed the wards on them last week," Wanda said to herself, "you're magic must have interfered with the transfer... so that means he has his war-hammer with him." She went on, remembering the day he approached her about creating a spell that would automatically teleport his weapons to his hands if he didn't already have them when he called for his battle gear. His time as a slave of Nova Roma and as a quest of the Shi'ar leaving their mark on his psyche to the point that he wanted to ensure his weapons were literally just a thought away from him.  
  
"Ah huh," Illyana agreed absently her own mind turning over the problem, "okay... lets go over the facts." She said her eyes taking on a truly demonic look, "Fact one: We got a wanna-be sorcerer doing really bad impersonations of Doctor Strange over there... who is so fucked up he can't remember what he said when casting and sent two of our buddies to who knows where." She began sending a glare toward the little man currently in police custody. "I better be able to track your spell little man... or you will be given an up close and very personal tour of the little piece of HELL I love to call mine!" She threatened letting her demon half surface as her face morphed, a pair of horns extending out from under her bangs, ears becoming pointed, her left arm and shoulder becoming wrapped in an armour like material, and a three foot red devil tail protruding from the base of her spine which she allowed to lash and snap in the air behind her. Catching the little man's eyes she allowed him a brief glimpse into the fires and destruction of her realm filled with the countless demons she liked to call her 'pets'... one in particular, a giant purple brute with a cigar in its mouth, seemingly smiling at the mortal with a twisted grin welcoming him to eternal damnation.  
  
The man squealed like a two year old and promptly fell right on his ass as he tried to get away from those death filled eyes, whimpering and babbling the entire time. Looking down at the man with an arched eyebrow one of the officers glanced over at Magik, "Awww, cut that out Illyana," he said with a roll of his eyes, having worked with the team of mutants several times when they were still based in New York City. "You know we can't get anything straight out of him if you scare him too bad." He cautioned while trying to keep a straight face, it was an old trick between the blonde sorceress and some of the NYPD when they really needed to know something, they would just let her or Wolfsbane have a few words with them. While the two never did more then speak with the individual they always got the suspect talking... and most of the time it was accomplished by merely 'looking' at the other person. Of course since the two mutants in question did have a tendency to regard people with far less then 'human' gazes and they - and their team-mates - had reputations for rather violent and destructive tendencies, most of the populace tended to give them a wide berth and didn't want to be the centre of their undivided attention no matter what.  
  
"Aw come on Bruno," Yana replied, not at all sorry she had terrified the man in handcuffs, her face shifting back to its regular human vestige once more as she turned toward the officer. She continued to regard Sergeant Bruno Patrillo - an old friend and honorary Demonspawn from the old days when the team fought off an alien invasion and became heroes to a world that hated them - with a semi-innocent smile. "He comes into our old stomping grounds... starts casting spells that could have taken out half the island and teleports two people I have fought and bled with... that literally stormed Hell to get my soul back...to who knows where? You don't think I'm going to take it personally when someone jumps my team-mates? No... Magik doesn't play that way!"  
  
"Illyana," Wanda's voice seemed to calm the outraged demonic sorceress a bit, "we'll get them back." She stressed, knowing that Magik tended to be very protective of the handful of people she called 'friends'. The team had always prided themselves on having a strong bond of friendship that went deeper then blood; the bond between the blonde sorceress and the werewolf in particular seemed to run the deepest. While the two didn't always get along with one another in their younger days, they had since grown into lifetime friends forming a friendship that had been forged on the battlefield and tempered by time. Out of all the Demonspawns, Illyana Rasputin and Rahne Sinclair had one of the stranger friendships on the team their history together littered with incidents of going to the extreme for one another. Be it Rahne leading a rag tag assault on the horrors of Limbo trying to stop Illyana's evolution into the Darkchilde... and when that failed... fighting the demoness to the death for the life of a child and Yana's soul. Illyana returning the favour by being apart of the Nova Roma raid to free Rahne and Tolen from slavery and being the one to teleport them back to Magneto's island strong hold and putting them in the regeneration tanks that became their home for several months.   
  
"Yeah," Yana grunted after a long moment, firmly pushing her anger and rage aside. 'Work the problem... get Rahne and the Wart back... then go into Limbo and destroy something... don't let the rage work you... work first, kill later, work first, kill later,' she told herself chanting the little mantra she used when trying to suppress her reflexive instincts of maim, kill, destroy. She found herself chanting that particular mantra often when she was forced to sit through the mandatory group public relations training sessions the entire team was made to go to every six months. It was during those times she really hated her job, sitting there and having to be nice to annoying ass racist dipsticks that kept mispronouncing her first name and seemed to think that Rahne was kept in a special kennel when not on duty or something equally degrading. One such encounter coming to mind where a local law enforcement officer in a backwater town in Canada made a remark about not seeing the wolf's collar and actually asking who held her leash. It took Jean psycho-kinetically holding the team back for that guy to continue breathing; although, that didn't save him for a dense fog settling into his path causing him to walk into a wall. Jack "Molecular" Power took his standing ovations from his fellow team-mates proudly having earned them for not giving into his first instinct to just 'jackhammer' the racist twit, instead merely creating a fog for the man literally to get lost in.  
  
Smiling a bit at the fond memory, Yana shook her head getting back to the matter at hand, "Alright I'm headed for Limbo to check my scrying pool... I'm going to replay all of this," she said giving the area a dismissive wave of her hand, " see if I can pick up what the doofus was trying to cast... and start the tracking spells." She addressed Wanda deliberately keeping her gaze on her team-mate, not trusting herself to look at the little man she was seriously considering feeding to her pit demons. "You're the one that warded the Wart's battle-axe... so you should be able to put a tracing spell on it easier then me... Maybe we can send a message or something to him with it? Get his attention... ... he could always try to call his axe again... we can tie a message to the handle or something. I'll keep it with me... my magic should keep it from leaving until we want it to...although, he's going to hate I've been keeping it from him," She suggested, with devilish smirk at the thought, trying to keep her mind on getting her team-mates back and not happily gutting someone. With one last nod, she accessed her mutant talent causing a small golden disc to appear in front of her on the floor and stepped into it, sharing one last smirk with Wanda, "I'll be in touch... later." She said in parting, her devil tail returning just as she disappeared from view.  
  
"You know... I think she's actually mellowed," Bruno Patrillo said with a straight face, unable to resist the urge to terrorize his prisoner just a bit before grabbing a fist full of the guy's shirt, "okay... lets get the rest of these guys downtown and out of the way of the 'Spawns... they got work to do." He ordered the rest of the officers, giving Wanda a friendly nod in parting glad to see some of his old friends once again, even if it was on business and under difficult circumstances.   
  
Wanda Maximoff watched Bruno and the other officers leave with a half-smile, remembering the 'old days' as it where, when she was younger and more willing to take on the world with a cockiness only youth could provide. While she wasn't ashamed of her past and never would be, there was a part of her would have loved to known then what she knows now... especially in some of the situations that had left her wishing she had thought to bring a machine gun with a ton of extra ammunition. Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the group of people that had entered the warehouse - as the officers with their prisoners left - led by Cloak and Dagger who had been giving their statements outside. Her gaze automatically drawn to the tall redhead wearing a long black overcoat who was walking next to a silver-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard, a hard displeased look in his eyes as his gaze settled on Wanda. Before the group a heavy fog rolled in as if announcing their presence in a brooding forewarning manner with a rainbow streak darting around the room with almost nervous energy seemingly determined to check every inch of the warehouse personally.  
  
*************************  
  
Elsewhere: ten years in the past of a parallel world -  
Twin Oaks Shopping Centre, Bayville, NY -  
  
"Oh well... just have to use a little of the 'blunt-force-trauma' then," Tolen said with an evil and semi-demented grin, twirling the war-hammer that had appeared in his left hand. The weapon was roughly three foot in length and made entirely of a bluish-grey metal that seemed to pulsate with an inner energy all its own. While one end of it looked similar to a modern hammerhead with a four-inch pike on the backside, the other end held a small spiked ball in the grip of a dragon's paw. From the spiked ball at one end going up was a hand tooled leather and mesh band wrapped around it covering roughly a foot and a half of the hammer's handle. Interwoven into the leather and mesh grip as well as carved into the metal itself there seemed to be several strange rune type markings on it, placed in strategic locations to bless the weapon and its user from harm. Of course, Jean and Kitty knew nothing of this, they only knew that their mysterious new friend was easily twirling what looked like a large hammer on steroids with one hand and grinning rather demonically at Pyro while doing so. Catching Jean's bewildered look out of the corner of his eye, Tolen winked at her, 'Just go with it Jeannie... I'll tell you how I did it back at the school,' he telepathically said to her, keeping his mental voice soft and directed at her, being well versed in how to communicate with a telepath even though he wasn't one. As long as he kept his thoughts focused and directed at her, he knew she would be able to pick up his thoughts since they were directed at her specifically. Unlike stray, surface thoughts of others that she could easily block out and ignore all together with a little practice and experience, ones firmly directed at her were harder to ignore especially coming from someone who knew where they were doing. And if this world's Charles Xavier was anything like the one Tolen knew and had a respect for - Jean Grey would not have been let out of the mansion without having firm shields in place to keep her from being overwhelmed by stray thoughts.   
  
Jean jumped once more as she heard Tolen's voice in her head being a little spooked by someone other then the Professor doing that, after all she was usually the one speaking inside a person's head, not the other way around. Firmly pushing aside her shock she noted what he now wore, gone where the jeans and long-sleeved mock-turtle neck shirt in their place. He was now clad in black pants made of a leather-like material interwoven with a chain mail like crotch protector and with knee and shin guards over his black boots. He also wore a chest guard that was designed to move with him that reminded Jean of a leather and chain mail bulletproof vest that offered protection for his chest and upper torso, the side securing straps made to move and give with his very flexible torso and spine. As well as leather gloves that secured around his wrists to help protect from wrist injury, the gloves themselves were reinforced with a chain mail mesh that added protection and made for a nasty add-on to his punches and backhands. In all the clothes showed off his muscular body that had been hidden under his clothes, a direct result of years of training and working out to keep his body at peek condition to handle the punishment he put it through while saving the world in mortal combat. But it was the tattoo of a blue and silver water dragon wrapped around his upper left arm and bicep that seemed to flex and move with his muscles as if alive, that drew Jean's attention... a tattoo that had been previously hidden by his mock-turtle neck and now seemed eager to have a little fun. 'Trick of the light,' she told herself with a shake, 'nerves are getting to you... need to focus and make a break for the car.'  
  
For her part Kitty was staring a bit slack jawed at Rahne who was now wearing a pair of well worn but sturdy looking boots, durable relaxed fit soft leather pants and leggings both of a deep rich chestnut colour that matched some of the tints and hues in her own fur when she was in her wolf forms. The pants themselves were tucked into the leggings blending in so they appeared to be one. The top of the uniform was a simple looking sleeve-less V-necked soft leather-like shirt designed to blend into and match the rest of the uniform as if it were one piece. The sides of the upper part of the uniform along the torso was designed to flex with her as she shifted forms expanding and contracting as she went from human to transitional and back again without shredding or ripping. Around her waist was a belt that was threaded through wide pants loops with a 'half-belt' like band coming off the left side of the main belt, at the end of which was a pouch secured to her leg above the knee by another detachable band that was designed to shift with her. Sticking out of her right legging was the hilt of a knife resting in a specially designed sheath in her boot. On her hands where fingerless gloves that allowed her to extend and retract her claws and ended in a one inch band that wrapped around her wrists, that allowed for flexibility and yet prevented injury. Like Tolen, she had the body of an athlete used to hard work and heavy workouts that had sculpted her body to peek physical condition; although, she didn't have an over development of muscles, Rahne was clearly a very strong young woman that did exercise regularly and for long periods of time.   
  
"I'm in the mood ta kill somethin'," Rahne growled, her wild half moving closer to the surface as she started walking toward Sabretooth.   
  
"Ah yeah... or in the very least put someone on life support," Tolen agreed with a wide grin starting toward Pyro in a slow walk giving his war-hammer a few last one-handed twirls.   
  
Jean reached out and clasped Kitty's hand the two sharing a quick nod before breaking into a fast walk toward Scott's car, the smaller of the two activating her mutant talent to keep the pair phased until they got to safety. {Good luck you two... see you later} Jean telepathically said to the two adults, uncomfortable with leaving them behind but seeing the reasoning behind it. 'Get home, tell the Professor... hopefully Mr. Logan will want to set out after Sabretooth and I can lead them right back here,' she thought to herself, a small part of her pouting in the back of her mind over not being apart of the action.  
  
Rahne reached her target first, as she smiled brightly at the larger mutant, "'Ello Victor... how's the flea condition?" she asked with a smirk. "Are ya still havin' ya flea dips like a good little pussy?" Sabretooth growled in reply as he tried to backhand her out of the way, only to come up short as she blocked his swing and instead grabbed the limb and twisted it. "Naughty, naughty little pus...nah milk fer ya tonight," Rahne cautioned, using her free hand to jab him quickly in the kidneys. As he fell to his knees she used her speed to try to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head, only to have her leg caught with an enraged growl from her opponent. With a growl of her own, she flipped out of his grasp shifting into her transitional form while doing so, to give herself a strength and speed boost. Landing in a crouch she studied her target with shining golden eyes, her enhanced hearing picking up the startled gasps and smell the terror coming off of the innocent bystanders who were witnessing the unfolding battle. Although, she didn't have time to think about that, as Sabretooth let out another growl and charged her swinging his razor sharp claws intent on tearing her heart out.  
  
Dodging his slicing claws, Rahne let her wild half push even more forward letting the familiar haze of her natural wolf instincts take control for the moment. With a low almost sub-sonic growl the wolf circled her prey keeping Sabretooth's attention focused on her all the while studying his every move waiting for the right opening. Unlike her adversary, who was more of a butcher and a monster that revelled in killing and slaying, tending to run solely on his savage killer instincts that came from being overwhelmed by his mutant abilities... fancying himself to be a predator when all he knew was death. The wolf truly was one, even though she seemed not to be nearly as savage as Sabretooth, she was in fact far deadlier, unlike her opponent, Wolfsbane had control of her wild half and more importantly her bloodlust. She did experience the so-called 'berserk rage' where she would go after everything that posed a threat to her, she did so while retaining her ability think her way through the rage. She could improvise, adapt, and alter her attacks to suit the situation as it presented itself, something both Sabretooth and Wolverine lacked, the latter two only able to think one thing during a berserk rage... kill everything now. During the times she gave into her 'bloodlusts' - when she went into what her team-mates called 'hunt/predator mode' - she lacked only three key components to her humanity, her ability to feel remorse, compassion, and mercy for her enemy, they were meaningless concepts to a wolf and had no place on a hunt.   
  
Rahne was merely toying with Sabretooth, using years of experience fighting him in her own world to walk all over him, not to kill him that was not the intent. She didn't have to kill him, merely keep him occupied until Jean and Kitty could make good their escape, then she would cut and run as it were, making her own before too many of the local law enforcement could arrive. With a low growl she suddenly lunged, having caught onto the pattern of his attack recognizing the rather loose martial arts he was using mixed in with brute force. He was good, she never forgot that about him, doing so would mean her life... however, she was far better, having superior control of her instincts and knowing far more about him then he did of her at the moment. Rahne caught Sabretooth in the throat with razor sharp claws cutting fast and deep, with his healing factor she knew he would be up and moving again in a matter of minutes. Growling to herself, she used her momentum to send a standing round house kick to his head to keep him off balance as she quickly moved back into position, suddenly dropping down she used her other hand to take a swipe at one of his kidneys trying to do enough damage that he would become more interested in healing then fighting.  
  
Not far away, Tolen suddenly launched himself into the air, rotating his body so that his war-hammer was now grasped in both hands and held over his head. He grinned as he landed bring down the hammer in front of him, an almost childish gleeful look dancing in his eyes as the head of the war-hammer buried itself deep into the asphalt barely eleven inches in front of Pyro's feet. Resulting in a small aftershock being created that ripped up the asphalt in its wake as it raced toward the started mutant successfully knocking Pyro right off his feet. "Good day mate," he greeted in a really bad Australian accent, as he used one hand to rip the embedded part of his beloved hammer out of the parking lot asphalt. Reaching down with the other hand he grabbed a fist full of Pyro's shirt and lifted him up, he smirked as his prehensile tongue quickly shot out and hit the release buckle on his opponent's backpack letting Pyro's propane tank fall back to the ground, "oops... lost your spark." He taunted after his tongue retracted back into place, giving the now wide-eyed Pyro a rather sarcastic grin as confusion and recognition flickered across the other man's face. Rotating his hips a half turn and lifting with his knees, he nearly shot-put Pyro across the parking lot and right into Sabretooth who was rather unsteady from blood loss, grinning brightly as the two connected with a satisfying crunch.   
  
His gloating was short lived as he heard a screech of tires, turning sharply he let out a string of curses as he saw a jeep blocking in the car Jean was driving. "Damn... if its not one thing its another," he grumbled to himself, twirling the war-hammer once before sliding it into its housing sheath built into the back of his chest protector. Then he was off racing toward the two vehicles accelerating as he did so, with Rahne shifting to full wolf form not far behind now that her target was unconscious as well, the two racing to deal with the new threat.   
  
Lance Avers smirked as he pulled himself up in the driver's seat to glare at the two in Scott's car, "No leaving just yet... not when Magneto sent us to personally escort you two..." He began but was cut off by a blur suddenly coming at him and seemingly slamming into his beloved jeep. "What the..??" he got out as the front end of the jeep was suddenly lifted up off the ground, getting his bearings he looked toward the end of his hood and found the front end of his vehicle being held up by a guy in leather and something that looked a hell of a lot like a werewolf that was growling lowly back at him.  
  
"I don't think they want to go with you... yo," Tolen growled holding up the front end of the jeep, "why don't you tell ol' Buckethead if he wants them so badly to come get them himself." He all but sneered the name, as he took comfort in the low warning growl Rahne let out beside him; although, he really didn't need her help in holding up the car it was comforting having her there and feeling her familiar growl rumbling through his body. Rahne being the only person he knew that could growl and have it felt by those around her, it made for fun when the team were trying to do normal people stuff and they had some stupid paparazzi hanging around bugging them with questions and picture taking.   
  
"What are you waiting for?!" Lance growled at his friends, "Get them!" He ordered as he tried to scramble back into the driver seat to regain control of the vehicle. 'Who is this guy?' he wondered, 'we got Freddie in the jeep... how can he lift Freddie so easily?"  
  
"Great... now I know where Merlin got that line from," Tolen grumbled almost to himself as Rahne gave a deep echoing rumble of a growl in added annoyance, "shall we my lady?" He asked as the two began to push the jeep out of the way with the Brotherhood in it. 'Good thing Fred isn't touching the ground or this would be a hell of a lot harder,' he thought to himself seeing the confusion in the teenager in question's face. Catching a movement in the jeep of a figure almost hidden by the Blob's extra-large form, he cursed lowly and did something he only used as the very last resort... he spit. Relaxing his salvia and mucus glands, he allowed a chemical his stomach produced on demand to build and blend into a sticky and somewhat corrosive mixture until it gelled together into a slimy mess he used to nail his younger self with before the boy could do anything foolish.  
  
Fifteen-year-old Todd Tolensky fell back with a face full of... his own spit?!? 'What the?' he thought trying to pull the stuff off, 'that guy has my powers.' He told himself as he felt the jeep being pushed aside by some strange guy with his powers and a creature directly out of one of his nightmares.  
  
{Get in!}   
Jean's voice sounded in the back of the two adult's minds as she pulled the car forward, {we're leaving together... now!}  
  
'Coming Mum,' Rahne thought back to the redhead, an amused smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth using the team's nickname for Jean Grey. In her proper time and reality, Jean had the affectionate name of 'Mother' a playful poke at her den mother tendencies and an actual suggestion for her official codename when the telepath was finally forced to choose one. Although, the telepath flat-out refused to be publicly known as 'Mother' to the entire known world, it didn't stop the name being used in private.   
  
'Be right with you Mother,' dropping the front of the jeep, Tolen gave one last spit getting the last of the corrosive concoction out of his mouth, 'God... I forgot how gross that stuff is,' he thought making a face as Rahne took his hand and the two back flipped into Scott's car as Jean hit the gas and drove off. Landing flat in the backseat with Rahne's slightly larger form on top of him, Tolen felt her shift back into human form and slip onto the floorboards of the car as he scrambled up right and fished around for his seat belt giving the mental command to return to his street clothes as the sound of sirens pierced the air. "Jean...slow down... drive normal... like we didn't just cause all hell to break loose back there," he instructed his hands going to the leather band in his hair to release it so all of his hair was free and blowing in the wind. Finger combing his hair into submission with the leather strap hanging out of his mouth, he caught her eye momentarily in the rear-view mirror.  
  
{So you're a good guy now... huh...Toad?} she asked in the back of his mind, a slight smirk tugging at her mouth as she slowed the car to the speed limit and moved into the slow lane to allow police and emergency vehicles to pass.  
  
'Knew you'd figure it out,' he replied in her mind, a warm chuckle in his telepathic voice, 'yeah... I'm a white hat now... have to be or Rahne wouldn't give me the time of day... and I decided that you make a better friend then enemy,' He added with a mental smirk as he gathered back most of his hair and took the leather strap out of his mouth to tie it back once more, 'what can I say... I finally got the hint that I needed to change sides after you dropped that mountain on me.'   
  
{You got a lot of explaining to do} Jean said telepathically, {especially about that 'Mother' comment.} Her eyes catching his one last time to arch an eyebrow at him as Rahne climbed off of the floorboard and into the backseat with him in her original street clothes once more.  
  
"Thanks for the vote of confidence... you think the Professor would let me down a bottle of mouthwash before the inquisition starts? I got this really bad aftertaste in my mouth I need to get rid of." He asked aloud, causing Kitty to turn in her seat with a confused look on her face unsure of what they were talking about. She hadn't seen Tolen spitting at his younger self, her view blocked by both him and Rahne's backs while they were holding up the front end of Lance's jeep moments ago.  
  
"Like... how do you two do that?" Kitty asked, wondering how they managed to change back into their original clothes so fast. "Oh... here's your jacket back," she said handing him back his prized duster, which he took with a bright happy grin pleased to get it back.   
  
"Magic," Rahne replied with a straight face not missing a beat.  
  
End Part Three.  
  
Note:   
  
Yes... I finally finished this part! Yay, me... didn't know how big this update was going to be, had a lot to do in it. Before I go I got two points of interest.  
  
1} For all his immovableness and invulnerability, Blob's powers only work when he is in physical contact with the ground as in standing on it.   
  
2} Jack Power of the Power Pack has technically only used two codenames over the years depending on which power he had at the time, "Mass Master" and "Destroyer". However, since the name Mass Master was created when he was still a pre-schooler and still very new to the hero business I do not think it is a name he should continue to use as he gets older. So I created the name "Molecular" for the now 18-year-old {in this fic} Jack Power to use while he is a member of the Demonspawns.  
  
Last item honest -  
3} No, I have not named the entire Demonspawn team nor do I plan to give a definitive list of the team members. Mainly because I want to keep it a surprise on the line up for the explosive finale of this story; however, for those of you who just have to know who is and isn't on the team, I will list the members that have been named so far. Please note, that there is no debate, the following people are very much members of the Demonspawns.   
  
Jean Grey -she's been mentioned enough damn times she has to be a member.  
Wanda Maximoff - "Scarlet Witch"  
Todd "Tolen" Tolensky - "Toad"  
Rahne Sinclair - "Wolfsbane"  
Illyana Rasputin - "Magik"  
Jack Power - "Molecular"  
Tyrone Johnson - "Cloak"  
Tandy Bowen - "Dagger"   
Julie Power - "Lightspeed" - she was causing the rainbow effect that was darting around the warehouse.  
Sergeant Bruno Patrillo - NYPD, honorary member of the Demonspawns.  
The guy with the silver hair and beard is a surprise and you are going to have to read the rest of the story to learn his name.   
  
Later. 


End file.
